Control Me
by CupcakeSprinkles14
Summary: Modern Day AU BDSM: Peeta was immediately aware of her presence. She wasn't the sort of person who would melt into the background very easily. She practically radiated confidence just by the way she sat at her desk. There was no denying she was beautiful. "If you sign the contract, I will bring out a side of yourself that you didn't even realize existed." Dom!Katniss Sub!Peeta
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So, I got this idea while watching a documentary on **_**Fifty Shades of Grey.**_** I know it's strange but there was nothing else on the t.v. Anyway, it said that there are actually more female dominatrix out there than there is men and it got me thinking, if this is true, why isn't there any fanfictions about this? You see all the s/d stuff for everlark but it's all the same stuff so I figured I could go against the mould and do it differently.**

**Warnings: s/d and all that entails. OCC.**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games.**

Chapter One

It began with Delly Cartwright.

Delly was a firm catholic. She believed in the practice of no sex before marriage to secure purity, being the only way to be welcomed into the Kingdom of God, or something to that affect. Having met at bible club, she had been Peeta's first and only girlfriend, her christian beliefs always having kept him on the right track. Peeta wasn't as strong a believer himself but it had meant so much to her, so he always went to services and religious groups with her.

When they were fifteen, Delly's parents told her they were getting divorced. Depressed and confused, Delly had drank herself into a intoxicated mess and went to Peeta, drunk as a skunk, and had somehow managed to get him into a same state as herself. Two drunk teenagers mixed together are never a good mix and, true to popular suspicion, they'd spent the drunk night fooling around. They didn't have sex. No, Delly's 'purity' was still intact. But they did everything in between.

The thing about Delly was that she didn't cut her fingernails often. They were sharp as talons and the next morning, Peeta had looked in the mirror and saw long thin scratches up his back. Out of the entire drunk, blurry night, he seemed to be able to remember how Delly's nails felt ripping through his skin. Which struck him as odd, since he couldn't remember anything else.

A couple of months later, after a local wedding, Delly-as an altar girl-had been cleaning up the church and sorting out the priest's robes when she disappeared into the back and asked Peeta to blow out the candles while she took off her own robe. Thinking nothing of it, Peeta had stepped up to the altar-feeling slightly demoralized since he wasn't interested in religion at all and if there _was_ a god out there somewhere, it could probably tell this-and took stupidly picked up one of the candles while it was still lit.

Immediately burning his skin, the candle fell from his hand and dropped to the floor. Stamping the flame out before it caught fire on the old church carpet, Peeta hissed and shook his hand. It stung like hell but for some reason, the moment it had burned him, there had been a little pang deep down in his gut. Something that almost . . . approved of the injury.

Before he could dwell on it too much, Delly had came back. Instantly noticing the burn, she went into mommy mode, gushing over the wound and insisting to fix it up for him. Even though the burn was covered up, it did not leave Peeta's mind. A voice at the back of his head starting niggling at him, asking a variety of questions like, what was that pang? Why had it happened? He tried to make it happen again but it seemed that the only cause was the candle burn.

His natural interest getting the better of him, Peeta found himself doing things like letting the hot water tap in his kitchen run until steam started to rise and sticking his hand into it. At first, he couldn't take it and would pull his hand back out, but he kept doing it. The pang came back, stronger and stronger every time until he was finally able to decipher what he was feeling.

Excitement.

By this point, Delly had almost turned into a nun and his hand was nearly scarlet with third degree burns. They were growing apart with Delly's obsession with religion and Peeta's obsession with burning himself for kicks. They eventually parted ways, on a surprisngly happy note, and (shocker) Delly joined a convent.

The first person to actually notice the burns was Peeta's best friend Madge. He'd been wearing gloves for ages because he'd been ashamed by the way he actually enjoyed scalding himself. Madge hated people wearing things such as hats and gloves and scarves in her apartment and forced him to take them off.

"What? Is my house too cold for you?" she'd asked.

"No, obviously not," Peeta had answered, picking at the gloves. "I'm just . . . I just like wearing them."

Madge scoffed. "Liar." She reached out and yanked the gloves off. By now, the skin of his hand was peeling away because Delly wasn't there anymore to remind him to treat the burns properly. "Shit Mellark, what did you do? Stick your hand into a fire?"

Madge was a very persuasive girl and got the truth out of Peeta with ease. He explained everything to her. The scratches, the candle, the pang, the tap water, the constant desire to burn himself because it felt good, everything. He'd expected her to be as stumped as he was, to be confused by the weird pangs and burns and excitement to the same extent as him. Instead she pissed herself laughing, which was odd since he was pretty sure that he was on the verge of being one of those depressed teens sitting in a mental hospital with bandages over the slits on his wrists while he wanted on a doctor to come and give him a 'talk' about what brought him to this do this to himself.

"What's so funny?" he'd asked defensively.

"Oh Peet, it sounds like you've become a masochist," Madge replied.

Peeta frowned. "A what now?"

"Mas-uh-kist," Madge pronounced. "It's psychiatry, I think. It's a person who has masochism, the condition in which sexual or other gratification depends on one's suffering physical pain or humiliation. You've been . . . burning yourself because it makes you feel good, right? You remembered those scratches Delly gave you because it felt good, yeah?"

Peeta was horrified, lowering his face into his hands. "Oh god, I'm disgusting," he said. "That's worse than I thought."

"Ah, Peet, don't think like that," Madge said, unable to fight her grin and laughter. "It's kind of like a fetish . . . some like feet, others like farts and you like pain. It's not that bad." Knowing she wasn't getting anywhere, the blonde girl had smiled and changed tactics. "Okay, I haven't told _anyone_ this but I used to get turned on by watching Gale Hawthorne do the news readings on the school news channel."

Peeta peered over his hands at his best friend with a frown. "What?" he asked.

Madge shrugged. "What? He was sexy, not my fault," she said. "I used to have to go into the toilets and touch myself so I could survive the school day."

"T.M.I Madge," Peeta muttered.

"What I'm trying to say Peet is that this isn't the end of the world. Just . . . when you're hurting yourself, make sure to treat yourself properly afterwards," Madge said. "Or, of course, you could find yourself a dominatrix."

"A who?"

Madge grinned. Leaning over, she grabbed a post it note pad off her coffee table and scribbled something ontop of it. "I know of an old friend of mine, she's very experienced in the s/d field. She practically feeds off the pleads of a masochist. We haven't spoken since college but I'm sure she'd be more than willing to help you," she explained. She tore off the top note and passed it over to Peeta.

_Katniss Everdeen_

_077-677-03085_

Katniss. Exotic name. Peeta glanced up at Madge skeptically, only to be met by two bright blue eyes grinning back at him. "Who is she? What does she do? And what's a dom-dominatrix?"

Madge smirked. "A dominatrix is just what you need."

And that's how he ended up sitting in the waiting room of the biggest office building in Panem. How come Madge had never said that she knew someone who worked in the Quarter Quell building? Surely something like that would have came up at one point! He was nervous as anything. Who was this Katniss woman and how could she help him? He had no idea what a dominatrix was, he could still barely comprehend what a masochist was and was still recovering from the idea that Madge used to go into the bathrooms and touch herself because the News Network eye candy did it for her.

There was a reception desk across from him but the girl sitting behind it barely looked up at him. She just sat and picked at her nails, occasionally flicking through the pages of her glossy magazine. Peeta wondered if she knew why he was here. He definitely didn't look like the usual people who'd frequent the building. If she did know, she didn't bring it up, which did nothing to soothe Peeta's frayed nerves.

The phone suddenly rang, making him jump violently in his seat. The receptionist answered it. "Hello Mrs Everdeen," she said, her voice chirpy in the faux 'I really don't want to be here but have to be happy anyway' way. She glanced up at Peeta through her eyelashes, nodding her head. "Yes, he's here. Okay, I'll send him in." She put the phone down and looked up at him properly. "Go on in."

Nodding his thanks, Peeta stood up and went to the door that had _**Katniss Everdeen Head of Department**_ printed onto the window. Wiping his sweating palms on his trousers, he pulled the door handle and went in.

The office was almost blindingly bright. With cream walls and grey carpets, the room was a stereotypical copy of an office. Every piece of furniture was made of mahogany wood and gleamed as the sun that streamed in through the giant window that took up the entire wall directly in front of the door. The view was magnificent. On a clear day, you could probably see right out to the beaches of 4th Avenue.

Peeta was immediately aware of her presence. She wasn't the sort of person who would melt into the background very easily. She practically radiated confidence just by the way she sat at her desk. There was no denying she was beautiful. Long, chocolate brown hair tied back into a tight braid that hung over her left shoulder and bright red lips that stood out against her caramel skin. He couldn't stop staring at her.

She looked up at him without pausing what she was currently writing into her notepad. Oh, her eyes! They were a mystifying smokey grey that held the promise of secrets and experience. "Mr Mellark, yes?" she asked, her voice sweet as a sugar.

Stunned into being mute, Peeta nodded.

Katniss smiled, putting her pen down and leaning back against her seat. "Please sit," she said, gesturing to the seat across from her desk. Her easy perfection made Peeta question everything he did. Was he standing straight enough? Did he walk okay? As he sat down, he even wondered what would be the best way to sit. In the end he opted with just sitting stiffly in the chair because he was too scared to do anything else.

"I haven't heard from Madge in years," Katniss said, crossing a leg over her knee. Peeta kept his eyes on her face, trying not to let them drop to her long, tanned legs. "You must be something special."

Peeta swallowed, realizing that she expected him to answer. His throat was as dry as a bone and when he did speak, he didn't sound like himself at all. "I w-wouldn't say special."

Katniss quirked an eyebrow. "Okay then," she said, unconvinced. "How long have you been a masochist?" Hearing her say it out loud, with so much ease and acceptance, made Peeta wince. Even though she said it as if it wasn't something to be ashamed of, Peeta never failed to _feel_ ashamed of it.

"N-n-not long," he answered.

Katniss nodded. "Right. So, in or out?"

"What?"

"Since you don't know what I'm talking about, you're an in," she said. Noticing his confused expression, Katniss elaborated. "What I'd call an 'out' is a masochist who knows and actknowledges that they get off on pain and don't get flustered and embarrassed or ashamed about it. An 'in' is someone who does and is, i.e you."

Oh . . . right. Okay, yeah, he was definitely an in.

Katniss leaned forward again and twined her fingers together, resting it on the top of her desk. "What I do, Mr Mellark, is provide the outlet that people like you need. Of course, I have rules and regulations, just like any other dominatrix you'll ever meet. I like you, you're cute, but cute doesn't matter if you don't know how to follow rules. I haven't had a sub for at least two years now and the only reason that guy stopped our arrangement was because it got too intense for him and he basically broke the rules. Can you follow rules?"

Peeta found himself nodding before he had thought it through properly.

Katniss smirked and stood up, lifting a sheet of paper off her desk and handing it to him as she walked around her desk. Her black pencil skirt was tight, hugging her hips and thighs and stopping just above her knees. "You'll have to sign this before we go any further with this conversation."

Peeta looked at the piece of paper and back up at her apprehensively. "What is it?" he asked.

"A promise of secrecy of what I do behind closed doors," Katniss answered. "Also, once you sign it, you're swearing that you won't hold me liable for any serious damage or injury inflicted upon you. Which means you can't sue me or try and accuse me of abuse or whatever. Because if you're a wimp then you might as well leave right now."

Peeta took the piece of paper out of her hands and skimmed it. It was written all professional, like she had gotten her lawyer to write it for her, but it was all basically what Katniss had said. If he signed it, he couldn't sue her for damage or report her for abuse to the police. He also couldn't reveal to anyone outside the office he sat in that Katniss did what she did.

Suddenly he wasn't so sure. Seeing such a thing written down, a promise of future pain and maybe torture, he wasn't sure if he could go through with it. A large part of him wanted to grab the closest pen and scribble down his signature but something held him back. It was partly Katniss, the way she could carry herself with so much confidence and ease. Her natural beauty was intimidating and made Peeta constantly wonder what he looked like in her eyes. Another pathetic small man who had an issue with what got him excited?

"Okay, maybe Madge jumped to conclusions . . . I think I better go." Peeta quickly stood up and made a move to leave, surprised when Katniss caught his wrist, stopping him from leaving.

Her grey eyes were imploring, taking in every inch of his face in five seconds flat. She slowly lifted his hand and pulled the black glove off slowly, finger by finger. She held contact the entire time, her gaze strong and dominating. Even her stare alone made Peeta feel weak at the knees. Katniss dropped the glove to the ground, looking at the scarlet burn that was still engraved into his skin. The previous night he couldn't resist sticking his hand under the tap again and had . . . urm . . . ended up enjoying it a bit _too_ much . . . as usual.

"You don't indulge in this, do you?" Katniss asked.

Peeta shook his head.

"You just burn yourself until you realize you're getting worked up and stop, ashamed with yourself as if you just snapped a crucifix and flushed it down the toilet," Katniss stated, not asked.

He nodded again, already feeling the familiar shame creep up on him.

"This-" Katniss trailed her finger nail along the burn, inflicting a sharp sting-"is impressive. This is third degree material. You're not a wimp, I can tell that already. So you're just ashamed of yourself. Of course, if you want to leave, leave." She let go of his hand and stepped back. Peeta stared at her, slightly confused. What was her angle?

He turned, hesitantly, feeling as if he'd been dismissed.

"_Of course,_ if you do leave, you won't find anyone like me again," Katniss said. Peeta turned around again and frowned. What? "If you ever did indulge in it, you wouldn't have much options to work with. There's always what-ever you're burning yourself with, obviously, but you'll eventually get bored. When that happens, there's fanfiction or erotica but, if you haven't noticed, a lot of authors don't seem to actknowledge that there's more female dominators in reality than there is male."

"Is there?" Peeta frowned. From what he knew of such works as _Fifty Shades of Grey_ (something Madge had read and explained to him in such detail he didn't need to hear) he had assumed that the submissive side of a s/d relationship was more made up of women than men. Was it really the other way around?

Katniss nodded, the smile never leaving her face. "Odd, isn't it?" she asked. "Us girls are a lot more strong than most seem to think. Basically, 50 shades and other female erotica is insulting. I, for one, prefer something where the girl is the one who pins the guy against the wall, where the female chains the male to the bed, where the woman _spanks_ the man."

Peeta inhaled his own spit and had to thump his chest to stop himself from choking. Katniss laughed and stepped forward so they were chest to chest. Her heels made her slightly taller than him, forcing him to look up at her.

"You don't want to say no," she stated.

"I don't know," Peeta replied.

"I can read you like a book Mr Mellark, you don't want to say no," Katniss said in a low voice. "No one ever wants to say no. " Could Katniss hear his heart pounding in his chest? He hoped not. He felt like he was close to a heart attack and it was all caused just by the proximity of this women. "If you sign the contract, I will bring out a side of yourself that you didn't even realize existed." Katniss adjusted his tie, fixing his collar and letting her palms rest on his chest. Oh god, heart attack was definitely imminant. She slid one hand down his arm and took the burned hand into hers. "Imagine a burn like this one, but not just on your hand. Imagine it _everywhere._"

Peeta swallowed the lump in his throat. "Everywhere?" he croaked.

Katniss nodded slowly. "Everywhere." She backed away and walked back to the desk, strutting with purpose and perching on the edge with folded arms. Peeta felt himself missing her touch immediately. He still had the contract in his hands. He lifted it to his eyes and read the first warning written on the sheet.

_Warning: _

_1) The Katniss you are talking to now will not be the Katniss you will encounter in the bedroom._

"Is there two of you?" he frowned.

Katniss laughed. "No," she answered. "What that means is that I'm two different people. If you decide to be my sub, there will be a word I will say. I will only say it only once. If you mishear me or talk back, you'll be punished. Because once I say it, that is when I wish to resume our roles. We'll also agree on a safe word and such but there's no point in that unless you sign the contract."

"Is there anything else I should know before I make my decision?"

Katniss shrugged. "You should know that I don't do do's and don'ts. You do what _I _want, case closed." She quirked an amused eyebrow. "Think you could handle that?"

No.

"Yes," Peeta said. Katniss stared him down with an unwavering gaze, obviously wanting for his answer. He didn't know what to do. Katniss obviously took what she did very seriously, needing a contract to prevent herself from being sued or arrested. That _was_ worrying but somehow he found himself walking back towards her, clenching his brunt hand anxiously.

Smirking, Katniss held out a pen and held it up between his eyes so they crossed together. Peeta took a deep breath and exhaled shakily.

"Where do I sign?"

**A/N: *IMPORTANT NOTE* If people want me to continue this fic, I might need some help. I can't write s/d female x male sex and I might need some help. A partner in crime if you will. Just someone to help me write some of the s/d stuff because I get embarrassed really easily. If you're interested, let me know in your review or PM me! **

**The stuff Katniss said about fanfiction and erotica is actually some of my own beliefs of some of the things people write. I'm not forcing my beliefs on others, I don't mind if people disagree with me, it's all good (-:**

**Please R&R.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hello guys, thank you for all the lovely reviews! Sorry that this chapter is kind of short but they will hopefully get longer as the story progresses and the fun starts :-)**

**A big thanks to chele20035 and Jgllove111593 for offering to give me a hand with the BDSM stuff! If anyone else has any helpful hints, feel free to mention it in your review or just PM me! ^_^**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games.**

Chapter Two

"Are you a virgin?"

The question caught Peeta off guard. Katniss looked at him from across the table as if she had just asked him what his favourite colour was. They were sitting in a diner that was across the road from the Quarter Quell building, in a booth at the most secluded corner that all it had taken was a glance at Katniss by the waiter for them to get. Peeta's stomach was churning with nerves so he wasn't that hungry and just asked for a glass of water whereas Katniss ordered a large cheeseburger with extra fries. She didn't look like the sort of person to eat like that but then again, never judge a book by it's cover.

"So, are you?" she asked.

"Uh . . ."

"Okay, so you are." Katniss didn't look bothered but how was she able to tell? Did he smell of a virgin or something? Noticing his confusion, Katniss sighed. "If you weren't a virgin, you wouldn't hesitate to answer," she explained. "Why hesitate if your answer is normal for a guy your age?"

"So . . . you're saying I'm abnormal then?" Peeta asked, still perplexed.

Katniss shrugged. "Nothing wrong with a bit of abnormality," she said. "Being normal is no fun." The contract sat between them on the table with a different sheet of paper which was turned to face Katniss so Peeta couldn't read it. "These," she pointed at the sheet, "are my rules."

Rules were something Peeta could handle. He had always been good at upholding rules and regulations, especially in school when he was a goody two shoes who couldn't bear the idea of being a social outlaw. He was a very boring person in high school because of this but he didn't care. What was the point of there being rules if people were just going to go around breaking them? He had no idea where the term 'rules were made to be broken' came from but it was ludicrous. Rules were made to be _upheld_ not broken.

"What are they?" he asked.

Katniss picked up her glass of coke and slipped the tip of the straw between her scarlet lips, sipping carefully while her eyes skimmed the rules. When she'd finished, she put the glass down and spoke. "Number one: I have zero tolerance. You break a rule, you're going to pay for it. No acceptions. You can beg for forgiveness all you like but you _will_ receive some form of punishment, understand?"

Seemed straight forward enough. "Sounds reasonable," Peeta answered.

"Number two: I think this is obvious but remember at all times that I am in charge, not you. Some people have a tendancy to forget this, therefore breaking this rule and getting themselves punished because they've broken a rule," Katniss explained. "Number three: My word is law. No matter what it is I tell you to do, you do it. The orders can range from something as simple as kneel before your mistress to whatever I stick in you, don't protest. Don't worry, I won't tell you to jump off a cliff or anything like that but if I change my mind, buy a parachute."

_Parachute, right_, Peeta noted. "Good thing I'm not afraid of heights then."

Katniss grinned. "Number four: Start and safe words. We need to agree upon a word or statement for _me_ to say to assume roles and for _you_ to say if it goes too far. It has to be something we wouldn't normally say so we can instantly recognize what the other wants. Normally, I'd say jabberjay because they're the most irritating birds on the fucking planet. So all you have to do is come up with a safe word for yourself. You don't have to do it now, think it over tonight, okay?"

Peeta nodded. "Got it." He felt like a doggy on a dashboard, constantly nodding his head whenever Katniss spoke to him. He'd definitely need tonight to think it over because knowing him he was going to think too hard about it and the time will be useful.

"Number five: In the bedroom, you refer to me as Mistress. Not Katniss or Kat or babe or sweetheart. _Mistress_." Katniss punctuated the point by spelling it out on the table with her fingernail. When she stopped, she looked up at him expectantly. He nodded for what felt like the thousandth time. "Number six: leather. Leather is my best friend. You might end up wearing it, lying in it, tied up in it, seeing me wearing it, being hit with it, so you better like leather, my friend, or else you're screwed."

"Leather is . . . okay, I guess," Peeta said. He didn't have any qualms with the material but he couldn't help feeling slightly worried by the many possibilities of what the leather would be used for.

"And if you're a good boy, I'll get you your own collar made," Katniss said. At first Peeta thought she was joking but then when he saw the serious look in her eyes, he realized that this wasn't a matter she was kidding around with. "As we continue through the relationship and the more you trust me as your Mistress and superior, the less often you have to wear the collar but, as soon as I get it made, you're going to have to wear a lot of turtle necks until I'm sure you trust me."

"Erm, why?"

"Because you're going to be wearing it 24/7. People don't have to see it, it'll just be a reminder for _you_." As she spoke, her food was put in front of her. The waiter warned her that the plate with the extra fries was hot and for her to be careful. Katniss watched the waiter as he walked away before dumping the fries onto the plate, turning the empty hot plate upside down to cover the candle that sat on the table and pushing the plate into the middle of the table. "Let's see if you've been listening now, shall we?"

"What?"

Katniss sat up straighter, folding her arms and crossing one leg over the other. Pursing her lips, she said, "Jabberjay." Oh whoa, wait, was this real? Like, right now? _Here?_ In the diner? Peeta blinked at her in confusion, startled by how different she suddenly looked. Her confidence was replaced with authority and her eyes had darkened to the point that they were nearly black, framed by her thick lush eyelashes. She gestured to the plate and ordered, "Eat."

Peeta wasn't ready and had been caught completely off guard. "What?" he asked, forgetting completely what Katniss had said earlier in her office about mishearing her. Now, there aren't many ways to punish someone in the middle of a public diner but it turned out there was method to Katniss turning the plate over the candle. She was good at using what she had and obviously knew how to make something out of nothing.

When he questioned her, she grabbed his hand and pressed it down hard against the plate. It burned, obviously, but wasn't nearly as hot as the heat his kitchen tap could reach. Katniss barely even flinched as he swore and bit down on his spare hand. He tried to pull his hand out from the heat before she was too strong and it stayed there too long. So long he started he started feeling . . . _things._

"When I tell you to do something, you do it," Katniss said in a slow, firm, measured tone. Peeta tried to apologize but it hurt so much he couldn't form any words. Would an apology even work? Was that what she wanted him to do? Was it what he was supposed to do? She hadn't told him what to do if she acted upon his breaking the rules.

The burn began to travel from his hand, up his arm and through his veins. It heated up his blood, which vacated his head and rushed south. On some level, it felt good, and on another level, Katniss was thoroughly enjoying watching him squirm. Even though her expression was controlled and measured, her smile was unmistakeable.

Deciding on her own that he'd had enough, Katniss let go. Peeta whipped his hand away and shook it, biting his lip to smother the pain. Katniss pushed his glass of water closer to him and he immediately pressed his hand against it, not exactly enjoying the way the cold soothed his stinging skin but not exactly wanting the burn to come back . . . right now anyway.

"Zero tolerance," Katniss reminded him.

"Yeah, you weren't kidding," Peeta mumbled.

Katniss tapped the plate. "I do want you to eat though," she said. "And I'm hungry as hell as well so we can share. I hate eating when everyone else isn't. Makes me feel like a pig." She took the now cooled spare plate and drooped a couple of fries into it. "Here."

"Um, thanks."

As he apprehensively chewed the first fry, Katniss said, "Oh, I almost forgot, we have to get tested for STDs."

Peeta choked, which made her laugh. "What?" he asked.

"STDs," Katniss repeated. "It's not that I don't believe you when you say you're a virgin but it's just to be safe, okay? It's all routine, I do it with everyone." She popped a fry into her mouth and smiled brightly. "You okay? You're looking kind of flushed." Peeta nodded his head, fighting the blush he felt rising to his cheeks. He wasn't sure if he should be unnerved or not about the way Katniss could convert from one persona to another with so much ease.

"Is it because of the burn?" she asked. "Did I strike a nerve?" She didn't sound at all worried if she _had_ struck a nerve, she just sounded curious. When he didn't answer-he was too ashamed to answer-Katniss sighed and lifted her hands out, holding her palms out flat. "Hands." Peeta didn't wish for a repeat of what happened last time he questioned her and did as she told him to, placing his hands ontop of hers.

"What's this supposed to prove?" he asked.

"Third degree, covers most of the hand, skin peeling in some areas, you shouldn't be ashamed of this. This is extraordinary. How long do you keep your hand under the heat?" Katniss questioned.

"Um, ten minutes . . . fifteen on a good day . . ."

Katniss whistled appreciatively. "Jesus, you definitely aren't a wimp. I think we're definitely going to gel well together. Providing you behave yourself. You obviously aren't the smartest of cookies though, since you don't treat yourself for the injuries afterwards. Which, I suppose, is a good thing since I like to see the damage I have caused."

Damage? Peeta's heart accelerated and his palms began to sweat again. Maybe he had signed that contract too quickly . . . damn spurr of the moment . . . "Why do you do this sort of thing?" he blurted out without thinking. Katniss' eyes flickered up from his hands so she was looking him in the eyes. Her gaze made his heart thump harder and it made him wonder if maybe he shouldn't have asked her that.

Instead, Katniss sat back in her booth seat and rested her arms along the top of it. "Lack of control in my childhood, I suppose. I got bossed about for half my life, always told what to do constantly. When you're ordered around for the best part of your life, you don't really get sick of being in charge once you get the chance. But really, there is no perfect explanation for it. It's the same as asking you why you get off on pain."

Peeta frowned. "But I can't explain that."

Katniss smirked. "Exactly. Through the duration of our time together there will be times where you'll think I'm the bad guy. You'll question why you ever signed that contract and gave me the right to control you. I'm not going to sit here and lie, pretending that it's an amazing experience all the time because sometimes it isn't. But most of the time, you won't even think twice about your decision to be my sub. I'm a professional, not some amatuer dom who thinks it's all about smacking and rough sex."

Peeta picked at the red napkin that had been sitting on the table at his place. "From what you've told me that's what I would have thought it was all about . . ."

Katniss leaned forward, so close that their faces were inches apart. "Smacking and rough sex is only a quarter of what my practice entails," she said, breath caressing Peeta's face. "I don't know where the idea came from but it's not all about pain. It's about the power, the control, the pleasure, the sensations that I have the ability to create."

Each word trilled down his spine like a thriling tendrail.

"Of course, you'd have to trust me first," she said. Katniss turned around in her seat, slipping out of the booth and standing up. "Come on, stand up and stand with your back to me." Peeta stood up also, wondering what she was up to. "Fall back and I'll catch you."

"Uh . . ." Peeta turned around to look at her. "I doubt you'd be strong enough to catch me."

Katniss scowled. "Don't patronize me, Mellark," she snapped. "Just fall back."

"Ms. Everdeen-"

"Katniss."

"Um, okay, uh, Katniss," Peeta frowned. "I still don't think you'd be able to catch me."

Katniss rolled her eyes. "That's because you don't trust me. Just fall. We're not going to be able to build anything if you can't even believe I'll catch you."

"I can't, really-"

"Fall Mellark, for the love of god!" Katniss snapped, exasperated.

Okay, alright, the floor didn't look that painful anyway. Turning around and bracing himself for the pain, Peeta shut his eyes and fell back on his heels. He felt himself fall but not the vicious blow the wooden floor should have shot up his back. Daring to crack his eye open, he was startled by the fact Katniss had a hold of him, her arms hooked under his.

A tad disoreintated, Peeta quickly stood up and looked at the mysterious woman in amazement. "How did you do that?" he asked. Her arms weren't skinny but weren't fat either, they were just the perfect size for someone her age. Katniss didn't have any muscles at all.

"I'm not a simpering Catholic schoolgirl," Katniss said, putting her hands on her hips. Peeta began to wonder how much Madge had actually told her about him and his lovelife. "The only thing myself and that Delly girl will have in common is that we both have a tendancy to leave scratches." This made Peeta's eyes fall to her hands. Each fingernail was perfectly shaped and french manicured. Delly's had been jagged and unruly, her aversion to nail clippers making her cuticles uncared for.

"Wouldn't want to ruin your manicure . . ."

Katniss laughed and rolled her eyes. "Oh, cry me a river," she said. "Trust me, I don't care." She was definitely not like any other girl Peeta had ever met . . . "Look, I've got to get back to work." Katniss grabbed her coat and bag. She turned to him and held out a twenty dollar bill. "That's for the food."

"Oh no, I can pay for it-"

"Take the money," Katniss said firmly, taking his hand and slapping the note onto it. "I ordered the most, I pay." She glanced at the uneaten food and closed his hand over the money. She turned to him and grinned. Her mystifying grey eyes put him on the spot, making him feel slightly flustered. "Meet me at my office again at seven o'clock. There will be barely anyone in the building by then and we can discuss this at further length then."

Peeta nodded. "Okay," he said. A small part of him, at the back of his brain, were already counting down the minutes. Katniss smiled and turned, leaving him standing beside their booth on his own, wondering what he'd gotten himself into as she walked away.

Every single person in the diner turned to watch her leave.

**A/N: I hope you liked this chapter. Remember I'm still not 100% sure on the whole BDSM thing but I'm getting there. Thanks for reading! :D**

**Please R&R! ^_^**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Ha-ha! Told you the chapters would get longer, didn't I? Heh, I'm a woman of my word ^_^**

**Thank you to Jgllove111593, even if we haven't settled our form of premanant contact yet, your enthusiasm to help encourages me! Also thank you to misshoneywell for your offer to help as well.**

**Also, thank you to Licho95 for your detailed and honest review on my writing. I'm trying to portray their relationship as real as I can without it seeming unrealistic. I'm still a beginner sadly but I'm hoping to get further soon! **

**Final thank you (sorry there's so many) a MASSIVE thank you to chele20035. This chapter would not be possible without your help! I owe most of what I know now to you, thank you.**

**And to all of my other reviewers! You're all so, so awesome! I love you all!**

**Disclaimer: Hinting of 24/7 s/d relationship, dom!Katniss, sub!Peeta and bondage.**

Chapter Three

There was something sinister about the Quarter Quell building at night. Like the air had been gassed with a foreboding sensation to scare away any occupants who dared to stay in the premesis after dark. Peeta felt like he was suffocating in it as he walked along the corridor on the 30th floor to where Katniss' office lay. He couldn't help thinking he was in the plot of a Stephen King novel, walking the gloomy halls of an old building at night time, a small niggling at the back of his brain telling him that something malevolent lay around the corner, only to be met by nothing.

A couple of people were still working; stressing fathers working extra hours to get the money they needed to provide for their families; desperate women not wishing to go home to face the judging silence of their empty house; those who just like working longer than usual, who like to get their work done. Oh, and the doorman. But all those people were on the floors 1-15. There were a whole fifteen floors between himself and any real form civilisation. That is, unless Katniss' receptionist was still there, which he highly doubted.

At first, Peeta had wondered if he was going to be allowed to enter the building again. When he had came earlier, he had an appointment card that Katniss had given Madge to give to him for 11:30 am. It was now 6:55pm and he had no reason to be going back. But instead of being turned away, the doorman-who's name was Mike, according to his tag-had smiled and said that Ms Everdeen was expecting him.

True to his previous assumption, Katniss' receptionist was no longer at her desk, the only signs that she had been there at all being the scattering of paper and unscrewed bottle of hot pink sparkly nail polish. Not sure if he was supposed to go straight in or not, Peeta lingered outside, reading the back of the nail polish pot at the variety of complicated chemicals that went into making it. He searched for the small side note that was supposed to say that it hadn't been tested on animals but couldn't find it. This made him scrunch his nose up in abhorrence.

At 7:05, Katniss' door opened, revealing the woman herself standing with her hands on her hips. She looked unimpressed. "What are you doing out here?" she asked incredulously.

For some reason he felt like a child caught with their hand stuck in the cookie jar. Even if he wasn't doing anything immediately wrong, Katniss' tenacious stare made Peeta feel like he'd been vandalizing her receptionist's desk behind her back. Her hair was out of its braid, fluffled out around her face in a waterfall of wavy curls. For someone who had been working all day, Katniss still looked radiant, her face was practically glowing. "I, erm, wasn't sure whether you wanted me to come on in or not. Your receptionist is kind of . . . missing."

Katniss shook her head, acting like he was being ridiculous. "My office is my second home. So just treat it like it is. When Cashmere isn't here, just go up to the door and knock. Not four times though, that weirds me out. Three is just irritating. Twice should suffice. How long have you been standing there?"

"About ten minutes?"

Katniss sighed. "Such a shame you didn't just knock. I'd have been impressed with the punctuality. Never mind. Come on in." She disappeared back into her office and Peeta hesitated before following.

Her office view at night time was breathtaking. The sky was a canvas of black, an ink spill that went on forever. Little yellow stars individually lit up the gloom, tiny beacons of light among the dark. The city was crammed with life; people going about their daily business; cars reeving; music thumping; partygoers laughing and cat calling to each other; doing the things that they normally did on a Friday night.

"I have just a little bit of work to finish off," Katniss explained, walking back around and sitting down. "We need to negotiate a couple of things. Things that you can't negotiate in a public place such as the diner."

"You mean something worse than going through bedroom rules and doing a trust excericse by the table?" Peeta frowned.

Katniss laughed while she paper clipped a bunch of files together. "Bedroom rules? This doesn't end at the bedroom," she said. As if she could feel the bewilderment radiating off of him, she glanced up at him and smiled. A devious upturn of the lips that made Peeta's heart start to thump in worry. "Have you got a job, Peeta?" she asked.

What an odd question. He didn't see what the problem would have been if she had just asked him that in the diner. "Um, no. Well, yeah, sort of. I work part time at my family's bakery but I don't really need any money because my parents split their wealth between myself and my brothers in their will . . ." He didn't speak often of his parents' death. Not out of sadness, but out of reluctance to relive. "My brothers and I run the bakery just to keep their legacy alive. We don't get paid so I don't really count it as a job . . ."

Katniss nodded throughout the time he spoke, clipping some more files together. "Oh good. At least I won't be holding you back from anything," she said. "My relationships with my subs don't stop at the bedroom. I like to keep them . . . let's say close at hand. Plus I've been needing a new receptionist anyway . . . Cash is always goofing off."

Peeta frowned. "What?"

"You can sit you know, I'm not going to bite your head off," Katniss mentioned, gesturing at the seat oppisote her own. Peeta slid into the seat, resisting the urge to crack his knuckles like he always did when he got too nervous. Katniss paused her work to look at him and smile. Her smile alone made his heart stutter, making his blood go warm and fuzzy. "How would you like to work here?" she asked.

Okay, he hadn't been expecting that.

"What?" Peeta asked, feeling completely blindsided.

"How would you like to work here?" Katniss repeated, slower this time. "Of course, as well as being a receptionist, you'll also be like my PA but I'm almost positive that won't be a problem."

"But-but I don't have any experience in that field of work," Peeta said.

"Oh pish with experience," Katniss said back. "Trust me, it's not needed. If a div like Cashmere can get the job without people questioning it, so can you."

"But . . . why?"

"Because you're my sub, that's why." Katniss stated this as if it were obvious, as if she wasn't completely sure how he didn't understand it. "And as I said, I want you close at hand. Don't worry about the experience either, I'm serious. As long as you have my backing and you wear a nice suit you'll be fine . . . You do own a suit, right?"

Peeta nodded. "Of course I do."

Katniss pushed some papers out of her way on the desk before pulling open a drawer and taking out a small black box. She flicked it across the desk so that it came to a slow stop in front of Peeta. "I want you to wear that until I can get your collar made," she instructed. Peeta picked the box up curiously, sliding off the lid.

Inside, lounging on a small velvet cushion, a charm of a padlock with a _'K' _in the middle. The chain was made to look like a real chain that would normally be attached to a padlock and looked expensive, not that the money spent on it mattered anyhow. Peeta wondered if Katniss had bought it or had it specially made just for her or . . . her subs.

"Don't worry about my past relationships in this regard," Katniss said. "They've never had the privellge of wearing the necklace."

"Why let me then?"

Her eyes seemed to glitter as she cocked her head in question. "As I said before, Madge and I haven't spoken in years, so you're something special." Peeta decided not to point out that he told her that this wasn't true and he was not anything special at all since he didn't think she'd appreciate it much. He took the necklace out of the box and held it in his hand, so the _K_ rested in the middle of his palm.

"It's very pretty," he said.

"Here, allow me," Katniss said. She stood up and weaved around the desk, the heels of her black stilettos making soft thumps on the carpet. Taking the necklace back from him, she moved behind him and leaned forward so her breath danced across the nape of his neck, making every hair stand up. Unclipping the necklacke chain, she wound it around his neck and clipped it shut again. "There you go, perfect."

"So, I wear this all the time?" Peeta asked, completely aware of the fact that she wasn't moving.

Katniss picked the _K_ charm up and played with it between her fingers. "Yes," she answered. "It's to show my ownership."

"But if other people aren't going to see it, what's the point?"

"The _point_ is that it's a reminder for you and, in the future, if I ever decide to introduce you to my friends, for them too." Katniss finally moved away, giving Peeta the space he needed to exhale and relax a little bit. She pulled off her heels and climbed onto one of the smaller filing cabinets, using the height to pull something down from a high shelf. She came back to her desk with the book, opening it up and shoving the clipped files into it.

"So . . . why would your friends need reminding?" Peeta asked, fiddling with the necklace anxiously.

"Some-not all-of them are like me. They have subs and like to dominate them and when they met each other's subs, they like to tease them and, well, frankly be a pack of dickheads. Johanna particularly, a necklace mightn't hold her back," Katniss explained. She folded her legs in her chair and sighed truimphantly, pushing the book of files away from her. "Well, thank god that's done. So, what do you think about coming to work here with me?"

"Um, I don't see I problem with it . . . I guess . . ." Peeta clenched his hand around the _K_ charm, wondering what exactly he was getting himself into. Katniss had this way of making you believe that whatever she wants is the right thing, that's there's nothing wrong with the way she does things, that if you disagree with her in any way, you're the wrong one.

"Perfect!" Katniss said chirply. "What we need to discuss next is kind of a sensitive topic, especially for you, someone who hasn't had any experience what-so-ever. I know I told you that I don't do do's and don't but I have to know if there's a special reason that makes you uncomfortable with something. I mean, I don't want to put a blindfold on you, only to have you take a panic attack because you had some traumatic experience as a child where you couldn't see or some shit like that . . ."

"Um, I don't think I had any traumatic experiences . . ." Except for the occasional beating from his mother, Peeta hadn't had a horrible childhood.

"If anything comes to mind, tell me," Katniss said. "Don't worry about it, even I have my limits. I don't draw blood. I'm just not comfortable with the idea, since I don't know any of the vital veins and stuff and I might cut something I shouldn't. I doubt killing you is going to look good on my work resume, you know, when I'm in jail."

"I think I can safely say that I have no problem with that at all," Peeta answered honestly.

"Good," Katniss nodded. "Well, if anything comes to mind, let me know. Have you got a safe word yet or do you need more time?"

"I was thinking maybe Mockingjay, to stick with the whole bird thing," Peeta said.

Katniss' lips quirked up in a small smile. "Mockingjay," she voiced quietly. "I like it." She absentmindedly played with a ring that was on her forefinger. "I loved those birds when I was a kid." Snapping out of whatever daze she was in, Katniss blinked and returned to normal. "Anyway, any questions?"

Peeta thought hard for a moment, wondering if there were any questions he needed to ask. Falling short, he found nothing apart from one thing.

"When do I start?"

~xXx~

Being Katniss' assistant actually wasn't that bad. Peeta would spend most of his time outside of her office, doing the filing that Katniss claimed Cashmere never did. It wasn't as difficult as he had thought it was going to be, just basic search and sort. The only other thing he had to do was call Katniss if anyone came to see her and let them know when she was ready for them.

Through the first week working at the Quarter Quell building, Katniss did nothing. It was like she was giving him the space he needed to acustom himself to working in an alien environment. It didn't feel like he had signed any contract that gave her free rights to his body and mind, it actually began to seem like they were just old friends working together in the same establishment.

Even with this in mind, there was always part of him that was hyperaware of the fact that he _had_ signed that contract. The main reminder being the necklace. As instructed, Peeta hadn't taken if off. The _K_ always reminded him of the situation he was in when he got too comfortable, the metal seeming cold against his skin, even if it was being smothered underneath his shirt. When he got home every night and got undressed, seeing the _K_ just sitting there as a right of ownership made him want to rip the thing off, but something held him back, something he couldn't describe.

"I want to show you my playroom."

"Your . . . what?"

Katniss smiled, her reflection in the window she was standing by repeating the gesture simualtaniously. "Honeymoon stage is over now," she said. "I want to show you my playroom."

Peeta picked the files he needed to sort off her desk and joined her by the window. "You have a playroom?" he asked in disbelief.

"Oh yes, it has a dolls house and a rocking horse and a trampoline," Katniss joked, putting on a child's tone before falling flat. "It's not the sort of playroom you'd first think of when you hear the word. You'll understand when you see it. I'll take you tonight after work. It's about time I showed you where I live anyway." She turned and smiled, leaning forward and murmering in his ear, "I don't think I can wait much longer before I get a chance to see what you look like _underneath_ the suit."

Peeta flushed in embarrassment, watching Katniss in awe as she strutted away as if she had said nothing. He quickly left the office before he said something stupid and sat down in one of the waiting room seats. Shit, he didn't know if he was ready for this yet. He knew that they had to start somewhere but he thought it would maybe be a little bit farther away . . .

The rest of the day, he was distracted. His heart wouldn't stop battering itself inside his chest, his mind kept spinning at a thousand miles an air, throwing possibilities of what was going to happen that night around like marbles. He only barely got the work that he was supposed to get done done before the end of the day.

Katniss came out of her office at 8:30pm wrapped up in a black coat. "Get everything done?" she asked. Peeta nodded, making himself seem busy by shuffling some needless papers around. "Well come on then, let's go." She walked fast, so fast that Peeta couldn't keep up with her and was walking about a metre behind her.

It was raining outside but Katniss pulled an umbrella out of her bag and got him to hold it so they could both huddle underneath it. When they stopped at the bus stop, Peeta wasn't sure why he was surprised. He didn't really think of Katniss as a 'taking the bus' sort of person. It was freezing as they stood there waiting for the bus to come but Peeta fought not to show how cold he was. Katniss didn't look like she felt cold at all, her face a passive mask that he couldn't really read.

"I want you to at least reach sub space tonight," Katniss said, staring out at the busy road.

"What's sub space?" Peeta asked.

"You'll know it when you feel it."

The bus pulled up at that exact moment so Katniss didn't explain any further. There was barely anyone onboard and she went right to the back, sitting by the window. Peeta sat beside her, shaking the water off the now closed umbrella. "Do you live in the city?" he asked.

"Just on 12th street," she replied.

Funny, that was where he lived. "Which road, Seam or Merchant?"

"Seam."

Oh, that was why he had probably never seen her before. He lived on Merchant road. The people on Seam and Merchant road didn't normally gel well together because of their differences in appearance and lifestyle. Peeta had always wanted to meet a Seam girl. Not because of the way his friends used to claim they were easy but out of guenine interest over what they were like. He had never really understood why they had never gotten along together . . .

"Never thought I'd meet a Merchant boy," Katniss said. "I've always been a fan of the hair. It's so . . . bright."

_More like tacky._ The Merchants were the only people within miles of this part of the city that had such pale skin and bright hair. The closest area that had the same complexion as them were in 5th Avenue. That was miles away.

"There's always wanna be Seam guys who dye their hair but it's not the same," Katniss continued. "It's only right if it's natural."

"I've always liked your dark hair," Peeta admitted.

Katniss smiled. "I guess it relys on what sort of hair colour you have yourself. You have the natural instinct to like the colour you'll never have or suit," she said. She looked out the window and sighed, just watching the world whiz by in a blurr. Peeta found himself admiring just how beautiful she was for the millionth time that week.

12th street wasn't that far from the Quarter Quell building and soon they were walking up the pavement toward Seam road. The rain had let up to a light drizzle."I'm not going to . . . be beaten up for trespassing on your people's area am I?" Peeta found himself asking.

Katniss laughed. "Not when you're with me," she said. "That's my house anyway." She went through the gate of a medicore house in the middle of the street. Peeta followed her up the path, taking in the basic red brick work and array of gnomes set out in the garden. "The gnomes are my sister's," Katniss explained. "She painted them herself and gave them to me."

The inside of her house was brighter than the outside. Her hallway was painted cream, like her office, and the carpet was red. A 'Welcome!' rug lay by the door, beside a rack of shoes. No shoes were actually _in_ the rack but were instead lying in a mess _around_ it. "You don't have to take your shoes off there," Katniss said, throwing her keys into a bowl and glancing at her reflection in the mirror. "That's just there to make it look like I care about my carpet. Make yourself comfortable while I go sort a couple of things out. The sitting room is just in through there. Oh, and just hang your jacket up on the coat rack, it's soaked." She reached forward and opened a door to the left of the front door and gestured for him to go inside.

While Katniss went about doing what Katniss normally did when she got home, Peeta found himself examing some photos that sat on her mantel piece. The first one was of herself and a smaller girl with blonde hair. The smaller girl was laughing and holding a certificate that said, _Primrose Everdeen, Artist of the Year._ Katniss had her arm around the younger girl, smiling at her like she couldn't be any prouder of anyone than she was of her sister right then. Well, he assumed it was her sister. Her second name was Everdeen after all.

The next photo was of a younger Katniss. She looked only-what? Ten, eleven?-and was fishing with a man who looked exactly like her. The man had a massive fish on the end of his line and Katniss was pointing and laughing at it, looking up at him with a wide toothy smile. The same ring she wore today was on her forefinger, glittering because of the way the sun hit it when the picture was taken.

Stuck to the mirror above the mantel piece was a mass card. It was blue tacked to the glass in the bottom right corner. There was a small photo of the same man from the fishing picture at the top of the card, with the message, _George Everdeen, 1964-2012. RIP, you will be greatly missed. From your loving wife Rose and daughters Katniss and Primrose. _After that was a prayer Peeta didn't really recognize since he wasn't big on religion. Katniss' dad had died . . . recently too. Peeta suddenly felt like he was prying and decided to stop being nosy.

Katniss came back a couple of minutes later. "Follow me," she said. Peeta wondered where she was going as he followed her. Judging by the way she was getting on, he thought she was maybe going to take him to some sort of dark basement underneath the house or a secluded attic where no one could hear him scream if she turned out to be a crazy physchopath.

But no, instead she took him up stairs to a room beside her bedroom. Katniss stopped at the door and turned to him. "Give yourself a shake before we go in and try to relax," she instructed. "It can be a lot to take in on the first entry." Peeta tried to do what she said but now he was wondering what could possibly be that bad that she had to give him a chance to steel himself before they went in.

Katniss went in first, telling him to come on in when he was ready. Peeta lingered outside for about a minute, seriously contemplating turning and running now. Deciding to just take the bull by the horns, he went right in without much more hesitation so he couldn't talk himself out of it.

"Welcome to my playroom," was the first thing Katniss said.

Okay, he should have spent more time readying himself. But _really_, he hadn't been expecting this.

There was a bed, which was simple enough. If you only looked at that it would seem like this 'playroom' was just a spare room for guests. The sheets were red and made of silk, the headboad black and made of leather. The walls were also black, encomposing the entire room. The only reason the place wasn't consumed in complete darkness was because the carpet was red and there was a light hanging from the ceiling.

Katniss was perched on a leather table that sat near the end of the bed with her arms folded and ankles crossed. There were four straps (also leather, she really wasn't kidding when she said she really liked that material) attached to the table, two at the top, two at the bottom. No prizes to guess what they were for.

There was also a giant chest of drawers and an array of hooks hammered into the walls. Hanging from one of the hooks were two hangers, one holding a red and black lace corset, the other simply carrying black silk stockings.

"Okay, deep breaths," Katniss said calmly, immediately able to sense the panic attack creeping up on him before he had really registered it was coming. Peeta did as she said, taking in as much air as his lungs could take before exhaling it all out again and repeating the action until he felt some form of serenity come over him.

"So this is the playroom," he asked in disbelief.

Katniss nodded, a twinkle in her eye. "This is where you and I will mainly play. It's not completely furnished, my sex swing is out on repair."

Peeta wasn't sure how to respond to that one.

"I don't want to jump right into the heavy stuff as, since you're new to this, you're going to have to be eased into this sort of lifestyle. I'm going to work you through this slowly so that you begin to adjust and trust me. I mainly do that by working through the letters BDSM. First, we do bondage where I don't take on my dominate role and you don't have to call me 'misstress' or anything. Once you're fine with that, I then tend to start saying jabberjay during our sessions, to see how my subs handle it. Finally I bring the masochism, where I use my toys and start inflicting pain," Katniss explained.

"Right," Peeta answered, cursing himself internally when his voice wobbled. Nervous didn't even cover how he was feeling right then, he was freaked out, anxious, petrified with the thought of what Katniss was going to do to him. Damn it, he had to stop doing what Madge told him to, it never ended well. Last time he did what she told him to, they'd gotten wasted and woke up on a skip ship travelling to Europe.

"Believe me, once we get started and you hopefully reach subspace, you won't question what I'm doing to you and, in fact, you'll quite like it," Katniss said.

Sure, he'd believe that when he saw it.

"Come here," Katniss said, waving him over to her. Peeta went to her almost without thinking about it, stopping in front of her. "You still have your safe word remember. Mockingjay, okay? It stops everything immediately. Plus, we're just doing the 'B' today so you should be okay."

Yeah but the 'B' still entailed a lot. Noticing that her words did nothing to settle his anxiety, Katniss sighed and leaned forward, pressing a firm kiss against his lips. Startled, Peeta took a step back, but Katniss caught his wrist and stopped him from pulling away. She carefully ran her tongue along his bottom lip, a gesture he recognized as a request for entry. Funny, normally he'd be the first to do that.

Unable to resist, Peeta parted his lips, letting Katniss' tongue enter his mouth. She definitely knew what she was doing, twisting her tongue with his own and exploring inside his mouth like she was mapping it for memory. She wrapped an arm around his neck and pushed her hand into his hair, pulling him closer to her. Peeta wrapped his arms around her waist, forgetting that she was anything more than a beautiful woman he worked with.

Katniss expected this though and wound her spare arm behind her back. A second later, something cold chinked around Peeta's wrists. Confused, he opened his eyes (he hadn't even noticed he'd closed them) but Katniss went on as if nothing had happened, fisting her hand in his hair and deepening the kiss. It took about another second for him to realize that he couldn't separate his wrists anymore.

Eventually Katniss did pull away, licking her lips and smirking at him deviously. She ducked under his arms, stepping out and away to confirm his suspicions that she had, in fact, handcuffed him.

"Before you ask, I find pink fluffy cuffs stupid," she said. "They aren't kinky, they're ridiculous."

"Where were you hiding these?" Peeta asked incredulously.

"I never leave the house without a pair of cuffs," Katniss answered. She kissed his cheek and curled her finger as she went to the bed, a clear message of _follow me_. Peeta did as he was told, unable to resist pulling his wrists to see if he could summon enough strength to break them apart.

Yeah . . . he couldn't.

Katniss produced a length of rope from underneath the bed, hooking it through the cuffs and knotting it there. It was an impressive knot, much more than what you'd be taught at scouts. Hitching her skirt up, Katniss kicked off her shoes and climbed onto the bed, tugging him up and on with her. She fell down onto her knees so she was straddling his hips, and tied the rest of the rope to the headboard, so his arms were above his head.

"Now, when we're playing properly, this will go much more smoothly," she explained, sitting back so she was sitting on his lap. "I'm just going slowly so you can get a feel for how this goes. Next time it will be much faster."

_Right,_ Peeta mental noted that. He tried to ignore the fact that Katniss was sitting right ontop of his crotch and she was radiating heat that really wasn't helpful.

"Now." Katniss pursed her lips. "Let's see what you're hiding under here."

Peeta had always been insecure, especially about how he looked to others. When he was in his teens, he had went through a period of anorexia because his life at the bakery had made him quite tubby and the kids at school had teased him about it. He supposed it was a good thing that Madge found out about it when she did and arranged an intervention that ended with him going to a support group or who knows how far it might have went. He was over that now but still couldn't help feeling abashed about how he'd look naked to others. Delly had been wasted and so had he when he had his only remotely intimate encounter and he couldn't remember anything about it to be worried about anything.

But himself and Katniss were both painfully sober. And something told him he wasn't going to forget much about what was about to happen in a hurry.

Katniss' face immediately lit up when she undid the first couple of buttons of his shirt, delighted with the sight of the necklace she gave him still clipped around his neck. She glanced up at him and smiled before saying, "Good boy."

There was something odd about being praised like that. Even if it was a statement you'd say to a common house dog who learned how to go to the bathroom out the backyard, the praise had made Peeta feel almost . . . proud of himself for pleasing Katniss. Like he had accomplished something great.

"You seem a bit nervous, is there something you want to mention?" Katniss asked.

"Just never been that . . . confident, I suppose," Peeta muttered.

"I can fix that," Katniss immediately said. She climbed off the bed and opened up the top drawer of the giant chest against the wall. Snatching something inside, she came back and resumed her position sitting on him. "This actually might give me an idication towards what you like," she said thoughtfully.

Then he was blind.

Well, obviously not really blind, but for a millisecond Peeta had seriously thought he'd lost his ability to see. Then he realized that Katniss had covered his eyes with something and had tightened it behind the back of his head. "This means," she said, her voice ringing a bit louder in his ears than usual, "that you don't have to watch me undress you." It made Peeta feel all the more helpless with the understanding that he couldn't escape nor could he see anymore.

Why was that exciting him?

It did help on some level. Of course, he was still worried about what she thought of his body but he didn't focus on it as much as he had when he had to sit and watch her take it in. Katniss undid the rest of the buttons with ease, following it up with what felt like the longest pause Peeta had ever experienced in his entire life. Oh god, she didn't like what she saw. She was going to say she couldn't even bear the sight of him and tell him to get out of her house or something even more mortifying-

Lips touched his neck and he jumped in alarm. Katniss wasn't recoiling or snorting in digust. She was pressing her body against his, mouthing at his neck like it was water in a desert, scraping her nails down his chest and stomach. She was making him shiver in want and she was barely doing anything. When her teeth sunk into the tender skin of his neck, Peeta couldn't bite back the moan he'd been holding in, feeling immediately embarrassed afterward.

It didn't hinder Katniss though. In fact, her mouth was getting lower, nipping his collarbone and kissing his chest. She sucked on his nipples-a feeling he had never experienced before but made him moan again none the less-and gently bit the sensitive skin teasingly. Katniss had a magic touch, everything she did felt amazing and made everything _outside_ what she was doing to him feel unimportant and far away.

When her hand tried to sneak under his pants, Peeta accidentally locked his knees together, preventing access. There was a long pause then, where he could only hear his own panting and nothing else. He could practically _feel_ Katniss quirking an interested eyebrow at him. Okay, so he had never let any down there before (not even Delly when they were drunk. Even if he hadn't remembered much, Delly did and had a tantrum about how she let him voilate her like that but he was so arrogant as to not let her do the same. Becuase then, you know, at least it would have been _fair._) and was uneasy about letting Katniss do it now.

He wondered what she was going to do. Laugh at him? Force her way through anyway? Leave the room with him still locked up like this, insulted that he didn't let her into his pants?

Answer: None of the above.

Peeta felt Katniss shift ontop of him, no longer leaning against him but sitting upright. When she spoke, her voice reeked of ascendancy and authority.

"Jabberjay."

Oh, fuck.

**A/N: Okay, so I haven't been able to find out how a relationship like this begins with an experienced player and a novice so I'm sorry if it's wrong, I just sort of went with my instincts on that one.**

**The link to the image of Katniss' ownership necklace will be posted on my profile.**

**Please R&R with your thoughts!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed! You're all so nice and encouraging. Here's the Katniss POV as some requested!**

**Thanks to Jgllove111593, hopefully we'll be able to sort out our beta system soon! And to chele20035 for all your help! Your website suggestions are very helpful! Hotcoals, your spontanious PM made me smile, thank you for your kind encouragement! Licho95, nice to hear from someone who knows what it's like to be a female dominant, maybe you can give me some insight? lol.**

**And credit to pennypaperbrain. Some of the stuff Katniss says about masochism and dominant relationships are from her essay on A03.**

**Warnings: BDSM, s/d, slight abuse (only a smack, just thought I'd put it on the warning anyway) and a LOT of teasing.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games.**

Chapter Four

Peeta was an odd person. He was different from any of Katniss' other subs, who had always had at least a tiny bit of experience before she took over as their dom. But Madge, upon contacting her, had told her that she had a friend who was completely inexperienced but needed to be controlled by someone. Normally, Katniss would have said no, but, having been intrigued, she had told Madge that she'd meet the guy.

Delicious had been her first thought. Absoloutely fucking delicious.

Katniss would be the first to hold up her hands and admit that she always had a thing for Merchant boys. Spending half her life admiring them from afar, it had always been a lifelong goal of hers to fuck one blind, even if it took years for her to acomplish it. Because of the tensity between the Seam and Merchant streets, Katniss had began to come to accept that maybe she'd never get a chance to control one of the other half though. So, yeah, it did take her a moment after she'd said the 'start' word to actually come to the realization that she actually had a Merchant boy chained to her bed.

When she was a child, the Merchant kids used to torment her in school. They'd insult her, her family, mocking them and calling them 'Seam Sluts' and 'Trash Tramps'. Once she turned fourteen and her boobs came in, the boys got more crude, asking for a fuck behind the bins or a wank in the storeroom. Katniss had been aware of the Seam girls' reputations but it had pissed her off that they had assumed she was just like them.

One day, Katniss had had enough and when she got asked for a screw after school hours, she decked the guy. She scratched her knuckles but the blood gushing from the bastard's nose was satisfying enough. Katniss was never bothered by Merchant boys after that but she still swore that if she ever got her hands on one, she'd make them pay for what they done to her. Yeah, she had a problem with holding grudges.

But Peeta was different. He wasn't arrogant or pretentious or self evolved. In fact, he didn't seem to have a special opinion of himself at all. From one glance when he had first entered her office, Katniss was able to tell what sort of person this boy who was so special that Madge had asked her personally to take under her wing was:

He had tousled hair, having only been brushed with a couple of strokes of a hairbrush before he left the house that morning. It was refreshing to see a Merchant boy who didn't spend two hours every day gelling their hair up into those absurd spikes that Katniss had always thought looked bizarre.

Skin of the bottom lip chewed throughly. Either he suffered from a stutter or was constantly overwrought, causing him to have an anxious tendancy to chew on his lip. In her mind, Katniss immediately thought about taking the abused lip between her own, ruthlessly sucking on it so he'd moan into her mouth.

What struck her the most were the black gloves on his hands. It had been 20 degrees outside, it wasn't cold at all. There were two options on why he chose to wear gloves with such heat outside: an insecurity over the look of his hands or there was something he didn't want her to see. Katniss knew she would have to find out what was underneath before that boy left her office.

He held himself with an air of concern. Katniss guessed this was probably because he was an 'in' masochist. Even if he hadn't even sat down in front of her yet, she already knew that he was an in. Not that he was making it obvious-those who didn't have the same practice as her wouldn't notice that he was a masochist-but to someone who'd been doing this for so many years now, like her, well, he was a very readable person.

Another thing she noticed in that split second in which she first looked at this 'Peeta Mellark' was way he folded his arms across his stomach as soon as he shut the door behind him. It seemed to be a habit that he didn't notice but, on a psychological level, Katniss guessed he probably had a history of self-doubt and maybe anorexia. Madge _had_ mentioned that his parents owned a bakery before they were killed in a fire, maybe he'd had a chubby childhood.

Katniss couldn't blame him, if she'd been surrounded by cupcakes and sweets as a kid, she'd have eaten it all as well.

Final thing noticed: he was hot. Katniss had suddenly felt like she was a teenager again, the same girl who pined after Merchant boys while also hating their guts with an intense passion. There was something, something she couldn't put her finger on, that separated Peeta from those other bastard boys who'd mocked her through childhood. She hadn't even spoken to him yet and she already knew that she was going to have to see if he'd sign her contract. If he signed the contract, it would show that he at least had courage and wasn't a wimp. Katniss couldn't bear the sight of wimps.

He didn't even need to sign the contract. The moment she saw those burns, she knew he had gumption. It was like the damage to his skin that he had caused himself had sealed the deed. She was _going_ to have him, no matter what.

The necklace was a test. Simply to see if he was capable of doing what she told him to do. Katniss wasn't sure what possessed her to give Peeta the necklace. She didn't give anyone her necklace. Granted, she'd normally have a collar pre-made but that's besides the point. She _never_ gave away her necklace. And yet, she gave it to him. There was just something . . . about him that . . . told her he'd look after it. He didn't seem like the type to throw things he's given away without abandon.

And _god_ was he appetizing in a suit. Katniss had to clench her thighs on numerous occasions over the week she called 'the honeymoon period' where she let Peeta get his bearings at the office. Sure, he still folded his arms most of the time and chewed anxiously on his bottom lip when she'd try to stare him down. Katniss enjoyed teasing him in subtle ways like that, staring him down to see who was going to back down first being the most fun. Of course, he always looked away first, very likely turning pink in the process, but Katniss didn't mind. His bashfullness was sweet.

Still, it was a hard week. Katniss couldn't keep her mind off the fact that he was right outside her office. Peeta, her sub. If she wanted, she could call him in and do whatever she wanted to him. But she couldn't do that, tragically. She had told herself she was going to give him time to settle into the job before she took up the role of his Mistress. She still found herself fantasizing on numerous occasions over _what_ she could-and was eventually going to-do to him anyway.

Maybe it seemed a bit sad but to quench her thirst to release her inner Mistress, Katniss wrote a list:

_1) Buy lollipops. A lot of lollipops. The type with the massive suckers on top. Variety of colours too. When in my office, he must be constantly sucking on a lollipop._

Katniss wasn't even ashamed. The thought of watching that boy suck a lollipop made her wet with want. It was only the first point and she was already clenching her fist to resist the urge to send Peeta on an errand to get a million boxes of lollipops.

_2) Get that collar made ASAP *Remember to ask Bonnie if Twill can make a matching leash*_

After writing the second point, Peeta had actually came into the office to ask her something. Katniss didn't even bother to cover up the list. If he saw it, he saw it, no skin off her nose. He'd came in to say that Mr. Abernathy had to cancel his appointment with her. (Haymitch never came to their arranged appointments anyway, he opted to bother Katniss in the streets while wasted). Still, Katniss had gotten what she called 'the eyeful' of Peeta's gorgeous backside when he turned to leave. Which led to number three . . .

_3) Regular spankings._

Katniss never passed up an opportunity to spank a sexy behind. Sometimes she didn't even do it as a punishment. If she felt like spanking, then she'd spank. If her sub complained then she'd punish him. Simple as.

There were many other points on her list, too many to go into in great detail. But the list was never completely set in stone. It was ever changing, with points taken out or points added. Katniss either grew out of a certain kink or just didn't like the idea of doing such a thing to a certain person, which would be what would make her cut it out. Somehow though, she found herself writing nearly every single thing she'd ever done onto Peeta's list, along with a variety of new things she liked the sound of.

Actually, scratch that, normally she wasn't so desperate to get started that she'd actually start _writing_ down the many things in her mental bank of torture. It made Katniss wonder what the hell this silly, fumbling Merchant boy had done to her. Still, she supposed the list would come in handy . . . if she ever hit her head and lost her memory.

Now she had him in her clutches, with no escape (unless he said Mockingjay, of course, but Katniss didn't tend to focus on that). When he admitted that he wasn't confident in how he looked, Katniss came to the conclusion that he must have had some sort of weight issue as a child. When she undid the first couple of buttons, she was pleased with the sight of her necklace still around his neck.

Can do what he's told? _Check._

"Good boy." Praise was one of the key ways to getting your sub to trust you. They tend to respond to positive encouragement (and negative scolding) and will either be proud of themselves or disappointed.

Judging by the small smile that creeped onto Peeta's face, he was most definitely proud.

Now, once she'd blinded him and opened the rest of his shirt, Katniss was nearly salivating with how close she was getting to satisfying the craving she'd been bonbarded with all week. Sure, he didn't have washboard abs or a six pack, but he definitely was defined. This was a nice change, eventually perfect bodies got boring anyway.

Katniss found it amusing how she could barely touch him and she'd have him in panting like a dog. Peeta was definitely the sort who'd get easily worked up, easy sign of a virgin. There was still the immediate locking of the knees issue though. Katniss tilted her head, carefully studying the man in front of her. Why wasn't he letting her into his pants? Lack of confidence? Traumatic experience as a child? Being a dickweed who didn't want her hand down there? Deciding that it was probably the first option, Katniss decided she'd give him a bit of a confidence boost.

"Jabberjay." She almost burst out laughing at the way he tensed underneath her upon hearing the word. God, he was fucking intoxicating, especially when he looked so helpless the way he did now. Katniss always liked blindfolds because she knew what was going on in Peeta's mind right then, even if she couldn't see his eyes. _What's she going to do now? What do _I _do?_ The anticipation of waiting to see what her next move would be.

She decided to leave the pants area alone for now (although, she was _not_ giving him his way next time).

Katniss brushed the shirt out of the way and kissed his stomach again, having to hold his hips down when he jumped in surprise. Katniss always found it easy to reach topspace, where everything sharpens and the ache to hurt and humiliate settles in. She does everything with a sort of relish and gives her sub exactly what he needs (with what she wants coming first, of course).

Trailing her lips up his chest and neck, she murmured in Peeta's ear, "Stay there, don't make a sound." She could practically hear him thinking, _'Where do you think I'm going to go?'_ which was a viable enough question but Katniss always said it anyway, knowing she was just riling him up more.

Slipping off the bed, Katniss went to the corner of the room where she dumped her bag. She glanced over her shoulder and smirked wickedly at the mercurial rise and fall of her captive's chest as he waited on her return. She grabbed her bag, taking her time, and dug her hand inside. She clawed around for a while until she found what she was looking for.

A box of lollipops.

Okay, so sue her, she bought the lollipops early. She didn't care.

Katniss stood for a moment by the bed, just to watch Peeta squirm for a bit. Cracking open the four pack of lollipops, she threw the box behind her head and held the four lollies in a clenched fist. Katniss climbed onto the bed again and repositoned herself by sitting on his crotch. She bit her lip and wiggled, making Peeta whine a little bit.

"Blue, red, green or yellow?" she asked, inspecting the lollipops carefully.

"What?" Even though she said she wasn't going to bring in the masochism yet (then again, she said she wasn't going to say jabberjay as well) she couldn't stop herself from smacking him for not listening. It was a reflex she couldn't control, it was like basic instinct to her now.

"If you don't understand say, _'I am sorry my Mistress, I do not understand.'_ Not 'what'," Katniss instructed firmly. "Just pick a colour. Blue, red, green or yellow."

Peeta licked his lips and Katniss watched the movement carefully, finding herself doing the same moments later. "I apologize, my Mistress-" huh, nice touch- "red."

Putting the rest of the lollipops onto the beside table, Katniss took the red one and pressed her finger onto the mandibular nerve at the very top of Peeta's lower jawbone. She applied slight pressure upwards just above the bone under his earlobe and moved her finger back an inch to press towards his neck, applying pressure to the 'hollow' spot. Peeta flinched, the sensation caused feeling strange. Katniss barely blinked, continuing to apply even more pressure into the hollow and forwards towards his face, underneath the jawbone, finally adding more pressure upwards to the bone just above the hollow spot.

As it always did, the process made Peeta's mouth fall open. Sure, she could have asked him to open his mouth on his own but playing with pressure points was much more enjoyable. She then popped the lollipop into his mouth and ordered, "Suck on it."

He didn't hesitate to listen to her this time, enclosing the top of the lolly between his lips and sucking on it. Katniss held onto the end of the stick, reaching out and brushing her hand through his hair. While his mouth was occupied, Katniss began to explain some of the ethics of relationships like these. "Times like these aren't always circulated around genital orgasms and, although they are nice, they aren't the main focus. It's more about us, our dynamic, how we interact and play." She pulled the lolly out a little bit before pushing it back in. She revelved in how his lips were already wet from sucking but could also tell that he was listening carefully to her.

"And honestly, most of what people think relationships are like are a bunch of stereotypes. You don't get off on pain, for starters. You don't burn yourself and your body goes through a pain-to-pleasure conversion, that's ludicris. It's a complicated matter of intensity and endorphins and self abandonment. What makes the pain worthwhile is that it's accompanied by and to some extent transformed by endorphins, lust, anticipation, etc. The experience of subbing is also deepened by the fact that you are being, albeit consensually, violated. Your personal space is being invaded and you are being insulted/hurt, and if tied down you may be physically unable to fight back. That kind of thing is intense. The fact that you want it means that the negative aspects are ultimately under your control, and can be defied or even channelled into catharsis, but it doesn't make them cease to exist," Katniss explained.

Peeta nodded in understanding, the lollipop chinking against his teeth as Katniss constantly teased his mouth with it.

"I, too, don't get off on hurting you. I'm always aware that what I'm doing is not normally accepted by others. We're the oddities, Peeta, and we have to except that. I don't pretend that the way I go about my sex life is the proper way to do it because that's ridiculous. But, really, I think those who judge should go get themselves a screw instead of worrying over our sex life," Katniss continued. "And I may hurt you and smack you if you don't do as I say but I will also care for you and treat you how you deserve to be treated."

She wasn't normally gentle while in Mistress mode but she had to get him to trust her. Her words _were_ working though because he was slowly relaxing again underneath her. Slowly letting go of the end of the lollipop, Katniss said, "Keep sucking that."

"Yes Mistress."

Katniss smiled affectionately. "Good boy." She trailed her hand up his chest, enjoying the tiny purr she got in response, and ordered, "Now unlock your knees for your Mistress." There was a moment's hesitance before Peeta obeyed. Pleased with his obiedence, Katniss lifted her hips and undid the belt around his waist and tugged the zipper down. Peeta's breathing picked up, the lolly nearly falling out of his mouth. "Keep that in your mouth, remember," she reminded him.

He quickly nodded, tipping his head back to hold it securely in his mouth.

"Don't panic anyway, we can't do anything serious or arduous until our test results come back," Katniss explained, pushing herself up so her lips brushed his ear as she whispered in a hot voice, "I just want to give my boy his first orgasm." Peeta shuddered, groaning when she slipped her hand under his pants. He was sweating by now and Katniss licked the salt at the base of his throat as she grasped his cock over his underwear.

Peeta groaned, louder this time, and pulled against the handcuffs on the headboard. Katniss could feel the struggle radiate him, the fight against trying to get free while also trying to keep the lollipop in his mouth. "You like that?" she purred. She rubbed him through the thin material of his boxers, curling her hand around his arousal and squeezing him. When he moaned instead of answering her question, Katniss bit his neck, inflicting a yelp. "Answer your Mistress."

"S-sorry," Peeta stuttered. "Mis-Mistress."

"Do you like it?" Katniss repeated, nibbling softly on the spot she just bit.

"Y-yes, Mistress."

"Do you want it harder?" she asked. Peeta nodded. He whined when Katniss loosened her grip, not letting him get what he wanted so easily. Her captive squirmed underneath her, breathing heavily and burying his head into his arm. Katniss took the end of the lollipop again, idly playing with it. Even just the sound of his sucking on it was hot, which was saying something since on a normal day, Katniss would scrunch her nose up at the idea of saliva.

Deciding today wasn't a day for teasing, since it was Peeta's first time getting touched like this (not by an annoying Nun anyway), Katniss started stroking him again. She had to keep reminding herself to be gentle, since it had been so long since she'd been with a novice. She didn't even think she'd ever even been with a _virginal _novice before. Gasps and groans were normally like beats in her ears but Peeta's was like fine music, the type that made her want to listen to it endlessly.

Tragically, all good things come to an end and because of her experience and expertise, Katniss accidently lost track of the fact that Peeta _was_ a virgin and maybe went a bit fast for someone of his practice which made orgasm occur much quicker than she'd have preferred.

"So, did you like that?" she asked, even though the stickiness of his boxers answered the question well enough. "By the way, we're done for now, so you can relax. Unless, of course, if you want to call me Mistress still, I don't mind."

"That was phenomonal," Peeta answered, breathless.

"Next time though, since you know how this goes, you'll only orgasm when I give you permission to or you'll be punished," Katniss explained, shaking her hand to get the cum off.

"How am I supposed to hold it?!" Peeta exclaimed.

Katniss shrugged. "Dunno," she said. "Of course you could just opt for the punishment and orgasm anyway."

"What's the punishment anyways?"

"You have to melt three ice cubes," Katniss answered. Peeta frowned, moving the lollipop to the other side of his mouth while he thought about it. Katniss absentmindedly licked her lips, suddenly glad that she bought the lollies earlier than originally planned.

"That doesn't sound too bad," he finally said.

"But I didn't tell you how you have to melt them," Katniss said. "Might want to think about it for a moment."

"Okay then, tell me, how would I have to melt them?" Peeta asked.

Katniss smirked at how oblvious he was. "You have to melt them on your body. I can guarantee that at least one cube will be put in underwear territory." Even if she couldn't see his eyes, Katniss could tell that Peeta was perplexed.

"Would that even _work?_" he asked.

"Eventually. Warm always beats cold. If I put ice cubes on your body then your natural body heat will eventually melt them. May take a while but it _will_ work. Trust me." Oh yes, that reminded her, she had to fill her ice cube trays. Couldn't have him orgasming without permission and her not having any ice cubes to melt. Then again, if she forgot again, she could just spank him.

Yeah . . . that sounded solid.

"What's with the lollipop anyway?" Peeta questioned.

"Oh, yeah, when in my office you must have a lollipop in your mouth," Katniss said. _No. 1 on list: Check._

"Can I ask why?"

"Because you're so panty wetting hot when sucking on a lollipop," she answered. Immediately, Peeta turned pink in embarrassment. _Sigh_, the innocence of a virgin. "Hey, be thankful I bought you normal lollipops. You can get lollies that actually _taste_ like sex and BDSM."

Peeta grimaced. "What does sex and BDSM even taste like?"

Katniss snorted. "Beats me," she replied. "I don't eat 'em." She leaned forward and pecked his nose. "You were a very good boy, well done."

"Thank you . . . Mistress."

Katniss smirked. "You know, there's other names, I don't mind. I also go by Ma'am, or do you still prefer Mistress?"

Peeta looked sheepish, admitting, "Yeah, I prefer Mistress."

"Okay then. Oh! Wait! I even had a sub once who called me Mom, what about that?" Katniss asked.

It was like she flicked an invisible switch. Peeta's whole demeanour changed. He closed himself off, building a brick wall between Katniss and himself. He didn't even answer her. Katniss wondered what she'd done, what she'd said. Everything had been going so well between them and everything . . .

"Okay, we'll stick with Mistress, okay?" she said.

Peeta barely nodded.

When he went home that night, she added at the end of the list,

_N.T.S: Stay away from anything to do with his mother. Makes an indestructable wall come between us. I didn't realise before, but there's more to Peeta Mellark than meets the eye._

**A/N: So how did I do? **

**Hey, did you know there actually **_**are**_** lollipops you can buy that taste like sex and BDSM. Does anyone even know what that **_**tastes**_** like?**

**Please R&R! **


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hey guys! I apologize for the delay, just been working on some of my other stories and making cover images for my fics (including this one! Like it? I couldn't find anyone who made covers professionally so I made it myself. Do you guys know anyone who does cover photos?) :D**

**A big thank you to jgllove111593 for your continued help and support! We'll get this beta thing going **_**eventually!**_

**To the guest reviewer 'jessie' I update whenever I can, I'd never leave you waiting so please be paitent for future chapters. If there's a delay, just wait because I'd never ditch a fic without informing my readers.**

**And thank you to all my other reviewers! You guys are all so brilliant! You're all so kind ^_^**

**Warnings: BDSM, Dom!Katniss, Sub!Peeta, spanking, mention of future dildo use, name calling, bondage and humiliation.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games.**

Chapter Five

"Can I take this out of my mouth to talk?"

Katniss pursed her lips, considering it. "Fine," she sighed. Sighing in relief, Peeta pulled the lollipop out of his mouth to speak to her. He held it in his hand as he said what he had to say to her, aware the entire time that she was barely concentrating on what he was saying, instead staring at his lips and the lolly itself.

"Mr Abernathy cancelled again," he informed her.

"That lazy bastard always cancels," Katniss replied simply. Having nothing else to really say, Peeta hesitantly put the lollipop back into his mouth. He didn't really mind sucking on the thing, he just wondered why Katniss liked it so much. If he kept going the way he was, his teeth were going to rot away because the amount of sugar he was intaking on a daily basis. "I have to work late so we might not have time to play tonight."

Peeta couldn't help feeling disappointed. Over the past couple of weeks, he had started becoming dependant on the time he spent as Katniss' slave, as strange as it sounded. He had started feeling like he would be lost without his mistress putting him in his place all the time. Something told him that Katniss knew this also, which made her much tougher when she went into Mistress mode. A large part of him didn't even mind that she was being harder on him, it had begun to make everything much more exciting.

"I don't suppose you're willing to stay on with me?" Katniss asked.

"Oh, no, I don't mind. I've got nothing to do anyway," Peeta answered, forgetting about the lolly in his mouth and nearly crushing his teeth on it. Katniss noticed and chuckled at the pained expression on his face. Pushing it into the corner of his mouth (making his cheek bulge out with it), he said, "I can work as long as you want me to."

Katniss seemed satisified with the response and Peeta felt truimphant. "Thanks," she said. She did seem busy, there were countless amounts of papers and files piling up on her desk. "I could do with some help sorting all this anyhow." It was strange, Peeta had been working for her for three weeks now and he still wasn't completely sure what it was she did for a living. He just sorted out her files for her.

"Well, I'm happy to help," Peeta told her. Katniss sighed in slight relief and grabbed a bunch of files off her desk.

"Here, could you sort those while I sort out the lot still on my desk?" she asked, handing him the files.

"Sure," Peeta answered, taking them off her. He turned to go to his desk outside the office and jumped when Katniss smacked his ass.

"Be sure to get it done quick," she said to him. "We've got a lot to get through." Peeta nodded quickly and left her office, his face burning in embarrassment. Sure, she'd done this before over the past few weeks but it was very difficult to adjust to. When they were in the playroom, it was fine, but it still felt quite alien in a place that wasn't as secure as their playroom.

The first time Katniss had spanked him, it had been because he had forgotten to call her Mistress. He had been nervous, which she had later told him was standard for someone who had never experienced it before. Peeta soon discovered that it wasn't as agnonizing as it sounded anyway. It did hurt like a bitch of course but it was also a thrilling experience. Katniss had been harsh yet tender which was a weird mix but still there. She'd ask between each smack, "Are you sorry?" and no matter how many times he said 'yes Mistress,' she'd still hit him again. She would get him to reach fever pitch and then she'd stop completely, just for the amusement caused by watching him squirm. She really was the cruellest woman Peeta had ever met.

But he still let her control him.

Why did he do that?

It didn't take him long to finish sorting the files and when he went back into Katniss' office to give them to her, she had cleared her entire desk. "Turned out most of it was rubbish," she told him. "Here, let me see those." Peeta handed her the files he'd sorted and she dropped them into a folder by the desk. "Come here, I'm bored."

Peeta took the lollipop out of his mouth. "What are you going to do?" he asked apprehensively.

Katniss laughed. "Don't panic, just get over here," she said. Peeta went to her and sat down when she gestured at the seat in front of the desk. Katniss pulled up a seat of her own and crossed her legs, taking his hand into hers and grabbing something off the desk. She showed him her french manicure. "You like it?" she asked.

"Yeah, it's-it's lovely," Peeta answered, unsure of why she had asked such a random question. Katniss twisted the cap off something with her teeth and pulled his hand closer to her, pulling a brush coated in pink varnish out of the jar. "Uh . . . what are you doing?"

"Just what I do when I'm bored," Katniss said, "don't worry, it'll come off."

"Right," Peeta said slowly, watching as she brushed some of the pink varnish onto his thumb nail. The polish was cold and looked quite ridiculous but he decided it'd be best not to protest since the repercussions probably wouldn't be worth it . . . or would they?

"Johanna was right, this shade does suit you," Katniss told him. "She said hot pink goes really well with pale skin and _viola! _She was right!"

"Is there a point to this?"

"Other than that I'm bored silly? I thought it'd be amusing to make you come into work tomorrow with your nails bright pink," Katniss explained. "Which also means that you can't take it off."

Oh god, that was going to be embarrassing. That was another thing Katniss liked: humiliating him. She had been right that first night in the playroom. As a masochist, he liked the humiliating, the invasion of his personal space, the dynamic between himself and his Mistress. There was something riveting about being constantly humiliated that Peeta couldn't explain and he found himself feeling quite relaxed while Katniss decorated his fingernails.

"There, now you're all prettied up," Katniss said proudly once she'd finished. "Try not to smudge it while it dries." She stood up and capped the polish. "I also want to discuss something with you." She sat on the edge of her desk and curled her finger to the floor. Having gone through her list of gestures just yesterday, Peeta recognized it as the _'kneel' _sign. Slightly apprehensive, he slid off his seat and got to his knees in front of her, looking up at her as if asking, _'Is this right?'_ Katniss smiled and pushed her fingers through his hair, putting him at ease a little. "You've been my sub for a while now and I want to try something with you that you might be a little uncomfortable with."

"What is it . . . ah . . . Mistress?" It felt weird saying it in the office but thankfully they were on their own. Then again . . . there was still that massive window.

"Do you know what this is?" Katniss reached back and pulled something out of her desk drawer, showing it to Peeta. Confused, Peeta blinked, unsure whether he was seeing it right or not.

"Mistress, is that a dildo?" he asked.

Katniss nodded examing the thing closely. It was baby blue in colour and quite large, the mere sight of it making Peeta feel uncomfortable. "It's not mine," Katniss said, as if it were to assure him. "I bought it new. Brand new and unused."

"Why do you have it, Mistress?" Peeta wondered if she wanted him to use it on her. She had given him tasks like that before, asking him to perform things such as oral sex on her while in a compromising position or restrained in some way. It took him a while to get the swing of it, to learn where her G-spot was and give her an orgasm but once he did it became easier, which then encouraged Katniss to make things harder for him. So, what? Did she want him to use the sex toy on her? Would that make things easier?

Katniss took the end of the stick of the lollipop in his mouth and used it to pull him closer to her. Peeta's heart banged in his ribcage, relentlessly beating itself. What was she going to make him do? Was she going to make him do it here? Was it going to be painful? Humiliating? Restrictive? Challenging? Difficult? Orgasmic? Euphoric? A thousand things whirled through his head in that second, making him almost dizzy.

The next seven words that came out of Katniss' mouth was something he did not expect her to say in a million years.

"I want to fuck you with it."

Did he hear her right? Peeta frowned. "Pardon?" Katniss smacked him and he winced, flexing his jaw to crack the bones back out and trying his best to ignore the burning in his cheek. "Sorry. Pardon, Mistress?"

"I didn't stutter, did I?" his mistress purred, cupping the cheek she just slapped and rubbing her thumb along his cheekbone. "I said I want to fuck you with it."

"Can . . . can that even . . . h-how . . . _what?!"_ Flabberghasted didn't even cover it. Peeta couldn't string together a single sentence, too freaked out and confused. What did she mean fuck him with it? That couldn't work!

Right?

"I'm obviously not going to do it here, we'll be in the safety of the playroom when we give it a shot," Katniss explained. "You can still safe word but I'd like you to give it a good try before you do, okay?"

"But that can't . . . it wouldn't . . . I don't even . . ." Peeta trailed off, shutting his mouth and trying to think through which way he was going to go with his sentence before he said it. So far he was coming off as a bumbling idiot. But, it was just . . . she couldn't _fuck_ him, it was physically impossible!

Katniss smiled at him affectionately, like one might smile at a child who didn't know how to work their new toy. "You'll find out later, okay?" she said. "Just say you'll give it a shot, for your mistress?" For a reason Peeta couldn't explain, every time Katniss said those three words: 'for you mistress?' he couldn't say no to her. He didn't want to disappoint her, the part that had came to depend on Katniss to get him through the day.

"O-okay," he stuttered, mentally cursing himself for the stutter.

Katniss was pleased. "Good boy," she said. "Now stand up." Peeta quickly scrambled to his feet, knowing that she didn't like it when he stalled her. Katniss kicked off her heels and pushed herself back on the desk so she sat in the middle, crossing her legs and pulling a lollipop out of the same drawer she'd pulled the dildo from. Peeta watched with a confused expression as she unwrapped it slowly and put it into her mouth. "Strip for me," she ordered.

Peeta heard her clearly but somehow felt compelled to ask, "Why?"

"Are you questioning what I'm telling you to do?" Katniss asked, her eyebrows furrowing together angrily.

"Oh, god no! I wouldn't dare Mistress, it's just . . ." Peeta trailed off, glancing at the giant window taking up the entire wall. People were in the streets, in the other buildings, in their cars, people who could easily glance up and see them. Katniss looked in the same direction as him and smirked.

"Still so shy?" she teased.

"A little bit."

"There are currently one hundred people in this building, any of them could walk in at any moment," Katniss said. "The people outside aren't who you should be worrying about. But the possibility of being caught, you'll find, is what makes everything exciting. I've got a meeting later with an asshole who's a difficult fucker who likes to fritter his time away here because he has a pathetic crush on me so I'm going to need something to get me through those torturous hours. And I want you to give that to me, _lover._"

A shiver jittered down Peeta's spine at her sultry tone, wishing desperately that he had the confidence and gumption to strip for her in front of a giant window with the knowledge that someone inside the building might come in. But he didn't.

Fed up with the hesitatation, Katniss jumped off the desk. "Jabberjay, loverboy." She squared her shoulders up to him, her face a picture of dominance and control. "Jacket, off, now." Okay, jacket, that wasn't too bad. Peeta shrugged his suit jacket off and put it over the chair by the desk. Katniss watched every move he made like a hawk. After trailing her eyes up and down his torso appreciatively-a thing that made him feel a mixture of embarrassment and arousal-she held her hand out. "Give me your tie."

Peeta didn't hesitate before loosening his tie and handing it to her. Katniss pursed her plump red lips and pulled the material out tight in front of his eyes, so close that they crossed over. "Arms behind your back," she said. _Okay Mellark, calm down,_ he said as he put his hands behind his back like he was told. Katniss wasn't going to do anything too intense. She couldn't. They were in her _office_, surely she knew this, right?

Katniss fastened the tie around his wrists so it dug into his skin the slightest bit. Peeta had stopped giving a tug to see if he could break free because he knew it was silly and a waste of time. Katniss knew her knots and they were never going to loosen.

"Lie over my desk, chest and stomach to the wood with your feet on the ground," Katniss said assertively, giving him a little push to help him on his way. Insides turning with nerves and excitement, Peeta did as told and positioned himself as his Mistress instructed. He had a fair idea of what she was going to do and wasn't sure why he was going along with it after her pointing out that someone could come in and see them at any moment.

"You've been a very naughty boy, Peeta, questioning me like that," Katniss purred. Peeta could feel her presence behind him, indimidating even when he couldn't see her. He could also feel his accelerated heartbeat against the wood of her desk, the crinkle of the papers underneath him and his own ferocious breathing being all he could hear. "And I think you need to be put back in your place."

Arousal welled up in Peeta's lower abdamon, the knowledge of what his Mistress was going to do to him making his blood heat up in his veins. Fear was also there. But not of Katniss, never of Katniss, but of the wonder of what she was planning to do to him. Excitement built up as he felt her hands crawl around his waist and unhook his belt, tugging his pants and underwear down to his ankles. Of course, such exposure also ensues an abashed sensation, but it's a speck of glitter in a sea of sand compared to the other emotions that continously battered him.

"This is for questioning me," Katniss said, moments before the first smack came. A second came soon after, then another and another. Again and again. The pain was nearly completely unbearable. The pain is what dominated everything else, the agony that was caused to put him in place.

Peeta vaguely registered Katniss saying something else, along the lines of, _"This one is for not doing as I say immeidately,"_ but he didn't focus on it as the pain was overwhelming. There was an impulse in him that begged him to stop her, to intervene, to end the pain she was causing, but he couldn't do it. All he did instead was beg her verbally to stop. His pleads, obviously, falling upon deaf ears, because Katniss went on regardless.

"This one is for the lack of respect for my authority."

_SMACK!_

Peeta yelped. Shit, that one was pretty fucking hard. His ass was stinging like a thousand tracker jackers had stung him and he left the stingers in by accident. Katniss hit him again, telling him what each one was for before she gave it to him. Sometimes she'd bring up stuff he'd done weeks ago, the previous day, a couple hours ago. Things he'd thought she hadn't noticed but obviously had and was storing away for a time like this.

"That one is for not having enough confidence in yourself."

Hold on, what?

_SMACK!_

Oh goddd, the pain was unbearable. The tie dug harder into Peeta's wrists and he groaned in frustration. What was Katniss talking about anyway? Another painful whack later and Peeta was close to begging Katniss to stop. The word _Mockingjay_ was on the tip of his tongue but he couldn't get it out, a small part of him clinging to the small piece of enjoyment he got from the smacks.

"Because you're the most sexy man I have ever met," Katniss said through gritted teeth as another smack hit home. It may have passed as a compliment before she added, "And you're my total bitch and I know you're loving it."

"Oh god Katniss, please stop," Peeta groaned, feeling a tad ashamed that he was incredibly turned on by this.

Katniss smacked him again, the blow sharp and excruciating. "That's not my name," she growled. "What's my proper title?"

"Mistress," Peeta hicupped.

_SMACK!_

"Say it again."

"Mistress!"

_SMACK!_

"Again."

_SMACK!_

"Mistress!"

_SMACK!_

"Are you sorry?" Katniss asked. Peeta nodded furiously, crying out when he was spanked again. "Say it to me."

"I'm so sorry Mistress, please stop," he begged. Katniss gave him one last smack, this one the hardest and most arduous.

You never feel more vulnerable than you do after you've been spanked like a child. You feel tender, like you could laugh or burst into tears in the same moment. You feel content, safe, happy that you've been put in your place by your master.

"Did you like that?" Katniss purred. She never failed to ask this, like she had to know whether she had made him feel good or not. Peeta never felt comfortable answering because, in the end, he still felt the tiniest bit of remorse that he _did_ like it. It made him feel dirty, like it was a sin to enjoy that sort of thing. Katniss caressed the skin of his abused behind, chuckling quietly when he flinched. "Did you like it?" she repeated.

"Yes, Mistress," Peeta mumbled shamefully.

"Good boy," Katniss praised, making him smile absentmindedly. "Okay, up we get." She carefully took his arms and pulled him back up onto his feet. Peeta bit his lip hard, trying not to groan in agony as his backside was burning and standing up was making it even worse. Katniss pulled the lollipop out of his mouth, along with hers, and chucked them both into the trash. She pushed up onto her toes and kissed him, framing his face with her hands and smiling into his mouth. "There's nothing to be ashamed of, remember that, I'm _always_ telling you that."

She _was_ always telling him that. Easy for her to say. She didn't get a sick form of pleasure from getting spanked and being degraded.

"Does it hurt much?" she asked, crouching to the floor and pulling his pants up for him.

"N-n-no," Peeta replied, unable to gather enough wits to get himself through the sentence. "I'm g-g-ood."

Katniss stood up and kissed him again. "Such a shame no one came along," she murmured, her lips brushing against his as she spoke. "The rush of nearly getting caught is eurphoric."

"I'm not sure I agree with you on that one," Peeta murmered back. Katniss chuckled, nuzzling his neck with her head. Her hair was quite tickly against his skin and he smothered the urge to giggle.

"That's because you're the one with the scarlet red ass," Katniss replied, her hands slipping down his back to cup his backside and drag his hips towards hers. She swallowed his moan with a kiss, slipping her tongue into his mouth and forcing him to submit to her.

There was a bleep from Katniss' desk and she groaned in irritation. She reached out for her office phone, pining Peeta against the desk in the process, and pushed her finger against the red button. "Yes?" she asked.

_"Ms. Everdeen, Seneca is here to see you," _Mike from the ground floor's voice said through the phone speakers.

Katniss scowled. "What? Here's not supposed to be here for another half hour!"

_"Shall I send him up?"_

"Give me ten minutes."

_"Okay dokey."_

"Fucker always comes early," Katniss muttered, taking her finger off the button. She sighed in exasperation and pressed her forehead against Peeta's chest. They stood there for a couple of minutes, Katniss trying to dampen her anger and Peeta letting her do so. "And I was so looking forward to screwing you on my desk."

"S-surely you could do that some other time?" Peeta asked.

Katniss smiled, reluctantly untying his hands. "Of course," she said. "You can bet on it." She stepped back and smoothed out the wrinkles in her skirt. "It may be difficult but I'll just have to keep the image of you writhing on my workspace out of my head. As hard as it may be."

Peeta blushed at the thought of Katniss thinking of him in that way. "S-sounds like a p-p-plan."

Katniss smirked and tossed him his jacket. "Get back to your desk," she told him. "Lest Seneca believe that there's hanky panky going on in here."

Peeta nodded and pulled his jacket on, adjusting his tie afterward. There were small red rings around his wrists from Katniss' knots but he didn't mind, it was like another mark of ownership on him. And he liked it.

When he passed her, Katniss gave his ass one last swat, laughing when he jumped in surprise. "Back to work Mellark," she said in a faux stern voice.

Peeta smiled. "Sorry Miss-I mean, Katniss."

**A/N: Things are beginning to heat up and get more intense, I hope you liked it! It was my first time writing someone getting spanked in detail without having any experience with it myself so cut me some slack when judging? **

**Please R&R! :D**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I'm really sorry for the wait!**

**Thank you to Jgllove111593 for being an awesome beta :D**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games.**

**Usual warnings still stand :) :)**

Chapter Six

Katniss wasn't a complete fan of how close she had gotten to Peeta but there was a large part of her that didn't care. Sure, sometimes she wanted to slap the adorable straight off his face and other times she just wanted to sit on her desk and scruff his hair while she was thinking. It had been a long time since she had had a baby cub and she missed it. It was like having your own personal puppy in the form of a human man. Katniss had a variety of names for her subs but cub or puppy were her favourite. Peeta himself always stuck with the 'mistress' title and Katniss liked his consistancy.

The playroom was . . . like their base, so to say. Even if they spent a lot of time in Katniss' office, a lot of the remaining time was spent there. There were still things Katniss wanted to try but wasn't sure how to bring up with her baby cub. It wasn't that she was scared to, she wasn't scared of anything, but she was waiting for the right time. Some things you can do right away, other things you have to wait for until your sub trusts you wholly and completely.

Even if he was still inexperienced and unsure, the more time they spent together, the more Katniss picked up about what Peeta disliked, liked and _really_ liked. For example, nudity was something he was severely uncomfortable with. It kind of made Katniss wonder how he was ever going to be sexually intimate with someone if they ever parted ways, since he wasn't confident in his appearance.

It was kind of one of the reasons why she decided to talk to Madge.

It was like they had never been separated. Katniss guessed that expressed the foundation of a strong friendship. That they could never talk for years and then meet at the park and fall back into their regular routine as if they had never been apart. "So," Madge said as they sat on the park bench, "how's it going with Peeta?"

That was the thing about Madge. She never judged. When Katniss had first started getting into the world of BDSM and bondage, not many people really knew about it. Not that she hid it from people or anything, it just never came up. When she began dominating people, she knew what she was doing wouldn't be understood by the students in her college. She didn't even tell Madge, who was her best friend at the time.

But Madge walked in on a . . . particulary awkward perdicament between Katniss and one of her first subs. Instead of turning her nose up or frowning in disgust, Madge had actually burst out laughing. Not in a mocking way but in an, 'I knew it all along!' way.

Katniss nodded. "It's going . . . great, actually." She frowned and brushed a strand of hair from her face. "Quite an enigma at the best of times though."

Madge tsked, leaning back on her elbows on the backrest of the bench. It was a sunny day and the rays were reflecting in her blonde hair to make it look like it was glowing. "Yup. Quite the enigma," she sighed. "You'll probably discover that he won't talk about certain things or avoid specific topics."

Katniss remembered when she mentioned the word 'mother' and how it had made Peeta freeze up and close off completely. She didn't want to ask Madge, in case it seemed like she was prying, but there was a part of her that really wanted to know what it was about.

"I'm guessing there's an ulterior motive to you calling me, since we haven't held a civilised conversation in years," Madge said, tilting her head back to catch the sunlight.

Katniss chewed her lip hesitantly. "Yes, um, you see, I was wondering . . . the thing about Peeta . . . he doesn't seem very . . . what's the word? Uh . . ."

"Confident?" Madge asked, cracking an eye open. "I wouldn't be surprised. I guess I should have warned you before about that. It should be his responsibility to tell you about it when he wants to, it's not my place to tell you about all that."

"But if I knew, I could help," Katniss contradicted. She frowned when Madge smiled to herself, quirking an amused eyebrow to the sky. "What? Madge, what is it?"

"Peeta's rubbing off on you," Madge teased, nudging Katniss with her elbow. "You've never been concerned about your subs' private lives before. In fact, most of the time I know you were just in it for the sex. Of course, I'm not surprised you've changed. Peeta has a habit of doing that to people."

Katniss scowled. "He hasn't rubbed off on me," she said. "I treat him the same as any other sub I've controlled."

Madge shrugged. "But you care about him on an emotional level as well."

"No, I don't," Katniss mumbled childishly. Part of her knew that she was lying but she didn't like the fact that she was starting to get emotionally attached to Peeta. She didn't get emotionally attached to people. It should be just a physical level, no deeper feelings or connections. That was how her relationships worked.

"It was anorexia."

Katniss blinked. "Excuse me?"

"Anorexia," Madge repeated. "Peeta was a little chubby as a child and the kids in our high school mocked him for it. He stopped eating for months on end and only stopped when we all held an intervention. I suppose he never really fully recovered his confidence about his body appearance and stuff. But hey, if your relationship is going well, I wouldn't worry about it."

So she was right. Anorexia had been the problem. Katniss hated the whole 'perfect body image' ideal and didn't see the problem with those who are slightly chubby or not exactly a skinny skeleton. A part of her was horrified that people had somehow convinced Peeta that he had been fat in High School. She couldn't even see a pick on him anymore. Then again, that might have been because of the rapid weight loss that was coupled with anorexia.

"He won't ever . . . fall back into that, will he?"

Madge shrugged. "I don't think so," she said. "As far as I can tell he won't."

Katniss couldn't imagine Peeta being anorexia. He always ate when they went out together and never pulled the 'I'm going to save it for later' trick. There was nothing wrong with him at all. He was . . . perfect.

"Makes you want to hug him, doesn't it?" Madge said.

Katniss nodded. Yeah. It did.

Madge shook her head and smiled. "Now, enough about my slightly damaged but wholly lovable and beautiful best friend," she said. She sat up and rested her elbows on her knees. "It was your father's anniversary recently, I remember reading it in the paper. How are you holding up?"

Katniss felt herself close off. Madge was right. It was her father's 2nd year anniversary of his death a month ago. She didn't think much of it on the day. She went to the special mass held for him but didn't do much else for the rest of the day. "I'm fine. I accepted it long ago and have just gotten on. Thanks for asking, though, it's appreciated."

"How's Prim?"

Katniss shrugged. "University and all that. She's at the age where boys are everything and the most important thing in her life is dating and shoes, you know?"

Madge pursed her glossy pink lips. "Yeah, the boys are probably all over her. Nothing like a petite blonde to get the blood pumping." She took in Katniss' horrified expression at this and cringed. "Sorry. I'm sure you're going to interrogate the hell out of all her boyfriends and beat the crap out of the ones who step out of line."

Katniss grinned. "Exactly."

"What about your . . . mother?" Madge asked carefully.

"She's fine."

Madge's eyebrows lifted at the curt answer but she didn't push the point. In actual fact, ever since her father had died, Katniss hadn't heard from her mother. She didn't really care that much, she didn't need her mother to live her life, and didn't want to discuss the point any further than necessary. Her desire not to continue this conversation topic was what lead her to back track to the topic they were on before they started talking about her personal life.

"So, were all the Seam kids seriously that mean to you Merchants that they went as far as making fun of someone's weight?" she asked.

Madge frowned. "Seam kids?"

"Yeah. Seam kids used to bully Merchant kids and vice versa, right?" Katniss asked.

Madge shook her head, her blonde curls dancing around her face. "It wasn't the Seam kids who bullied Peeta, if that's who you're referring to," she said. "It was the other Merchants."

Katniss's eyes widened. "Are you kidding me?" Even if the Seam were full of gangs of bullies, they _never_ acted against their own.

"You see, Merchants have this big, glorified idea of what other Merchant kids should look like. Tall, blonde-obviously-and thin. Thin is a big factor. I suppose that's why they picked on Peeta when he was slightly tubby. Actually, he wasn't even that fat . . . in my eyes away . . . Hold on." Madge lifted her hips off the bench and stuck her hand into her backpocket, producing a bright green wallet.

Katniss shifted closer to her as she snapped the wallet open, producing some slits for cards and a plastic window with a photo slid behind it. It was a picture of a little blonde girl in a white dress embroidered with red velvet flower designs who wore a wide, toothy smile. Her thin, pale arm was wrapped around a boy who was just a little bit taller than her. He had cute, chubby cheeks which were stained pink as if he was blushing and his stomach was a little bit rounded out. There was a bruise under the boy's right eye but he was smiling none-the-less.

"Is that you and him?" Katniss found herself smiling as well. She didn't know why but young Peeta and his wide smile was just too sweet that she couldn't help smiling back at him.

"Yes," Madge answered.

"Is that not puppy fat?" Katniss frowned, gesturing to the picture.

"I thought so. Apparently the Merchants didn't."

Katniss couldn't help feeling irritated about that. "What happened his eye?" She let her finger rest on the bruise under Peeta's eye in the photo. "I'm guessing he didn't walk into a door frame or a wall . . . ?"

"What happened?" Madge asked, her eyebrows lifting. "The Merchants happened."

~xXx~

Katniss wasn't sure why she was annoyed. But as she stomped up the stairs to the Quarter Quell building, she was fuming. Why did Merchant children have to be so cruel to each other? Could honestly be so horrible to an individual that it forced them to result to something like anorexia? What else did they do? Force kids into self-harm? Mental instability? _Suicide?_

She was practically storming down the corridor, so annoyed that she felt herself turning red. She didn't even give Peeta a second glance as she passed his desk, barging into her office and slamming the door shut. She chucked her bag onto the floor and threw herself into her desk chair.

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Katniss sighed and pressed the button on the intercom that helped her talk to Peeta outside the office. "Peeta?" she said into the speaker. The speaker fizzled for a moment before his voice came through.

_"Yes, Katniss?"_

"Can you come in here a moment?"

_"Is everything alright?"_

"Oh yeah, just come in, please."

Punctual as ever, the door opened a second later and her assisstant came in. It was strange. When she saw him, it was like Katniss could see the smiling little boy in the photo who had been convinced that he was fat. To assure herself that he wasn't like that anymore, she let her eyes wander down, to where he now filled out a suit _really_ well. She focused on that, and nothing else.

"Are you okay Katniss? You look a bit . . . off?" Peeta frowned, unaware of what she now knew about him.

"I'm fine." Katniss waved him off. She felt a headache coming on from scrunching her forehead up too much. Rubbing her temples to ward it off, she said, "Just . . . jabberjay. I need something right now."

"What is it you want mistress?"

She loved how quickly he had adjusted to her mood swings. One minute she'd be just in the mood for a cuddle, the next she'd be pinning him to the bed by his throat and snogging his brains out . . . with an astonishing amount of dry humping added on top. Katniss was glad that she didn't have to monitor her moods so she didn't confuse Peeta and that he had gotten used to it fine enough without her having to even explain to him about it.

"Just . . . come here," Katniss muttered. She was seriously despressed after what Madge told her. Her baby cub nodded and came to her as instructed. "I just had a hard day, that's all." Since they'd been togehter, Katniss had had a few bad days. Peeta quickly realized that if she's having a bad day, he shouldn't question what she asked of him, just to do it or suffer the consequences of disobeying her.

Peeta sat on the edge of her desk and squinted at Katniss in the way he did when he was trying to figure out what was wrong with her. He always did it, no matter how many times Katniss wished he wouldn't. She had an idea what he was trying to do. If he knew what had made her day hard, then he could try to fix it. But Katniss really didn't think he'd appreciate it if he knew that she was pissed off about the fact that he got bullied about his weight to the point where he starved himself when he was younger.

"What is it that you'd like me to do, Mistress?" he finally asked, breaking the silence.

Katniss studied him carefully, starting to squint a little bit herself. She leaned forward and pulled her lollipop box out of her drawer. She honestly didn't know what she wanted him to do. "Colour?" she questioned.

"Why don't you choose, Mistress?"

Katniss smiled. "Take the green." She pulled out the green lollipop and handed it to him. Peeta took it and put it into his mouth, smiling back at her. He was always keen to make her happy when she was down and would do whatever he could to acomplish it.

"Anything else, Mistress?"

"I'm not sure yet," Katniss mumbled. A part of her wanted to tell him that he wasn't fat when he was little, that all it was was some baby fat and that the Merchants were a pack of dicks. But he'd then know that she had asked Madge about him and she knew about what he went through in school. He obviously didn't talk about it and Katniss was trying to ignore the part of her that wanted to bring it up.

Was this what it was like when people tried to get her to talk about her father?

Surely not.

She couldn't let Peeta think that she knew. Because then she'd feel obligated to tell him about something personal about her as well. And she couldn't do that.

"Kneel," she finally ordered. Peeta looked slightly relieved that she was giving an order and not sitting in silence staring at him in such a scrutinizing fashion. Katniss wasn't in the mood for anything too intense, she was emotionally drained from all the new things she had learned. So when her assistant got on his knees beside her, she simply took his head and pulled it into her lap.

"There's something wrong," Peeta mumbled as she played with his hair while staring into space. "Anything I can help with?"

"Not really," Katniss sighed. _Unless you promise not to get mad at me for prying into your private life._ Wanting to get herself completely away from the topic, she asked, "Have you reached subspace yet?"

Peeta frowned. "What's subspace?" he asked.

Katniss curled her lip in distaste. So he hadn't reached it yet. If he _had_ reached it, then he wouldn't even need to ask what it was. She didn't want to have to explain it to him, she wanted him to _experience_ it. "Okay, so I'm going to have to get on that," she mused. "Have you thought any more about my suggestion?"

"Which one, Mistress?"

"You know, the treat I was planning with my little weapon in the drawer," Katniss said lightly, teasing the nape of his neck with her fingernails. He shivered.

"About that . . . how would that work?" Peeta asked, quickly adding, "Mistress," as an afterthought.

"Well, a girl would put a dildo in her intimate area, a guy would do the same," Katniss explained, trying to be as delicate as possible. Even if they had been together for quite a while now, Peeta was still a virgin and she had to take that into consideration. "Except I suppose it's a lot more painful for guys than it would be for girls."

"Why's that, Mistress?" Peeta had tensed at the word _painful_ and his voice was filled with concern.

"Because," Katniss said carefully, "it goes where it's not really supposed to."

"Not supposed to?"

"You're full of questions today, aren't you?" Katniss laughed. "Yes, where it's not supposed to. Trust me when I say you'll _really_ enjoy it once the pain passes."

"Kat-I mean, Mistress, I really don't understand." Okay, she was confusing him. She was just going to have to dumb it down to the bluntest of terms for him.

"Well, I'll phrase it differently," Katniss said. "Goes right here." She slid her hand down his back and lightly patted his backside. "You understand now?"

There was a long pause.

"Can I say Mockingjay?" Peeta asked. "I'm not saying no to the idea, I just want to discuss it on the same level."

Katniss smiled. "Baby, you don't have to ask. Just say it, okay?" She threaded her fingers through his hair and asked, "Do you want to lift your head?" Peeta shook his head. Katniss grinned. "So what do you want to talk about?"

"Well . . . _that._ I mean . . . _what?!_ I don't even know . . ." he trailed off and sucked in his cheeks as if in deep thought. "Can you run me through how it works?"

"Sure thing babe," Katniss said. "Okay, I'm not going to let on that it won't hurt. But with enough lube and if we take it slowly, you'd be surprised by what you'll find pleasurable. Of course, you could just say you're not comfortable with it. I won't force you into doing anything you're not comfortable with, I've told you that before. So . . . ?"

Peeta switched the lollipop around in his mouth. "I told myself I'd give everything you suggest a go," he finally said. Katniss nodded along as he spoke, strokng the top of his head affectionately. "But I'm not going to lie, that sounds pretty . . . weird . . ."

"Not surprised," Katniss said. "If someone told me that they wanted to stick a dildo up my ass I'd be pretty freaked too."

"It doesn't help when you put it like that."

"Well, I wouldn't think so." Katniss paused her hair caressing and frowned. She had completely forgotten one of the first things she always checked when she was with someone new. How had she forgotten? "I kind of need to do something with you tonight. In my house. Not the playroom . . . the bathroom . . ."

Peeta lifted his head to look her in the eyes with a frown of his own. "Your . . . bathroom?" he asked slowly.

"Yeah," Katniss answered. "Don't worry, I'm not giving you an enema or anything, yuck no, I just want to take care of a . . . well . . . a bit of a hairy problem."

"What?"

Katniss sighed heavily. "Here's the thing. I like my men hair_less_ and I couldn't help noticing that, well, you've got a happy trail, so to speak."

"Can't I sort that out myself?!" Peeta exclaimed.

"Hell no," Katniss replied. "I'm your mistress, you're my slave/cub/puppy. You don't get a puppy to shave himself, do you? Plus, it's fun. I like doing it." She did find it fun to cover her boyfriends in shaving cream and sorting them out herself. It was messy and humiliating. One of the many things she enjoyed immensly.

"It's just the happy trail, right Katniss?"

Katniss bit her lip. Oh dear, she could feel some animosity coming on.

"Katniss, it's just the happy trail, right?" Peeta's face was a picture of shock mixed with horror. "Katniss?"

~xXx~

"Kat, this is ridiculous."

Katniss simply hummed in response, running the shaver through the cream, cutting a line through the white fluff. "No it's not, it's perfectly normal." Well, as normal as spending a Friday night in her bathroom ridding her cub of all of his hair expect for the locks on his head and his eyelashes was.

"Katniss, this isn't normal. Guys don't shave their legs!"

"Stop being such a girl," Katniss scolded. "I got less complaints from my baby sister when I first helped her shave!" She dunked the shaver into the water. "Just think of it this way: no hair = sexiness times a million."

Peeta rolled his eyes and let his head fall back against the bathroom wall. Katniss smirked at his irritation. "You have no idea how stupid I feel right now," he muttered.

"Somehow, I think you'll live," Katniss responded. "Come on now, lie on the floor so I can get rid of the offending happy trail." She quirked an eyebrow when Peeta rolled her eyes again as he slid to the floor as instructed. "Hey, enough with the attitude or I'll sort you out in the playroom after this."

"Weren't you planning to anyway?" Peeta asked.

Katniss grinned. "Probably." She twirled the shaver around in her hand. "Shirt up." Resting one hand at the back of his head, Peeta sighed and pulled his shirt up for her. "Good boy." "Or maybe instead of getting rid of hair I could shave my initials in," she contemplated.

Peeta groaned. "I'd prefer it if you didn't."

"I was just kidding," Katniss laughed. She took the can of shaving cream and pressed down on the nozzle a bit too hard, sending cream flying everywhere. "Crap." Peeta laughed and swiped some off his chin with his thumb.

"You need to work on your aim," he said.

"Oh shut up." When she finished, Katniss sat back and grinned. His skin looked so baby smooth now she just wanted to run her hands all over his body. "You're lucky you stopped whining," she pointed out. "You were one complaint away from getting waxed instead of shaved. And trust me, I wouldn't make it easy."

"Oh, well, in that case I feel privellged," Peeta said sarcastically, sitting up on his elbows.

Katniss gently smacked his stomach. "Watch the attitude," she said with faux sterness. "And you should be thanking me. Not all girls like hairy boys. I know I certainly don't."

"You're acting as if I had hair like a sasquash!"

Katniss shrugged. She crawled over him, forcing him to lie back on the floor again. Their faces were inches apart and her lips tingled his as she spoke. "As cute as your little fair blond hairs were, I don't like how they would have tingled my palms," she mumured.

She could feel his heart fluttering in his chest, the knowledge that she was causing such a thing making her feel more enpowered than she ever had before. His abs pressed against hers and her mind cast back to what Madge said to her. About the merchants and Peeta's weight and the anorexia. It made her angry. Really angry.

To somehow smother it, she smashed her mouth against Peeta's, kissing him roughly. "We're going to have some fun tonight little cub."

**A/N: Please R&R? (:**


	7. Important(ish) Notice!

_**A/N: Sorry to anyone who thought this was a chapter but I wanted to take a moment to answer to my reviewers!**_

_**Everlark Fan: Some Subs actually do work for their doms in a controlled environment. It's a special form of domination where the sub is almost like a slave to the dominant partner. Of course, Katniss and Peeta's relationship in this fic isn't like that but more of a mixture but such things as the 'K' necklace or the collar or the working as her assistant all contribute to a 'slavery' (and I use the term lightly) sub/dom relationship. Not all sub/dom relationships relie entirely on designated times or places, I think that's more of a stereotype than truth. I'm sorry if you find Peeta's character boring, I didn't mean for him to be portrayed that way :/**_

_**E. P: I wish I knew what fanfic you were talking about, but I haven't really heard of it, sorry.**_

_**RonaldGarcia91: Thanks, I wanted to show Katniss' more human side in that chapter. To show people that not all doms are controlling machines who just want to hurt all the time, that they actually have genuine concern towards their subs. And that they all don't need to be damaged in the past, either. It seems that a lot of the time doms are said to have had a traumatic past that lead them to do what they do now but that's not always the case.**_

_**EucaEuca: I find things like cleaning and shaving intimate too! As for age wise, both Katniss and Peeta are in their late twenties. I'm not sure what specifically but definitely twenty five or over.**_

_**TitanNegro: I'm pretty sick sometimes too. Nothing wrong with being sick once and a while ;)**_

_**Guest: I'm glad you think my portrayal of the relationship is realistic. I've been trying to make it seem as realistic as possible.**_

_**supergirl971: Yes, Katniss definitely cares about Peeta. That's what I hoped got across in the most recent chapter.**_

_**Also, in general, guys please don't ask questions if you're only a guest. I know it sounds horrible to ask that but I feel frustrated when I can't answer your questions because it doesn't let me send you a PM with an answer. So, if you have any inquires, send me a PM (:**_

_**Right! Final thing on the agenda! I want to ask YOU what you want to see in the next chapter. I have loads of ideas swirling around inside my head and I can't pick one so I want to ask you guys which you'd like to see in the next chapter. There are three options:**_

_**A) Peeta slips up and Katniss has to punish him.**_

_**B) They do the dildo thing Katniss has been coaxing Peeta about.**_

_**C) Katniss unwittenally does something that makes Peeta say 'Mockingjay' because it's something he isn't comfortable with.**_

_**I was going to put it up on my profile as a poll but I realized it might take too long so I did it like this! (I hope it doesn't get reported since there isn't any actual chapter content in here).**_

_**Thanks for your time!**_

_**~Cupcake**_


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: I'm so sorry this took so long guys, I've been busy. The results to my poll had been varied so much that I managed to incoperate all three of the options into the chapter :D**

**Warnings: Dom!Katniss, Sub!Peeta, PDA, anal/dildo use.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games.**

Chapter Seven

"What is this place?"

"I come here every now and then," Katniss explained, jerking the key to switch the car off and gesturing at the seedy building in front of her. They were far away from the city, Peeta had almost thought they were going to be travelling all night until she finally pulled up here. He couldn't really see any further than the building, the only thing visible being a red, flickering neon light saying, _'Mason's.'_

"Why's it so far our of town?" Peeta asked her.

Katniss shrugged. "I don't know, I guess Johanna just liked the spot," she said. She patted his knee and smiled brightly. "You'll learn to love her and . . . I have a pretty good feeling that she'll like you. Right, come!" She threw open the car door and climbed out, Peeta mirroring her action on the other side. The night air curled around him, tickling the skin that was still felt a bit raw after Katniss' war on body hair and forcing out a shudder.

"I'm never going to get used to this," he complained. Katniss locked the car and gave him a weird look.

"Used to what?" she asked.

"I feel like a plucked chicken, I don't know how you girls can do that . . . what is it? Monthly?" Peeta said.

Katniss grinned as she caught on to what he was talking about. "Depends on the person," she replied. "Some do it monthly, some do it more than that. If you wax, sometimes it can last much longer. Of course, I only use wax as punishment."

"You punish yourself?"

Katniss' eyes sparkled. "Who said I was talking about myself?"

Oh. Right. _Duh_.

He watched his Mistress (he found himself referring to Katniss as that more and more outside of their sessions, which he found weird) as she started making her way to the decrepit building, having to move carefully so that her heels wouldn't slip and slide in the gravel that surrounded the area. Peeta only hesitated a second before following after her, able to catch up pretty quick because his sneakers just crushed the gravel into tiny pieces.

"So, is this your favourite bar or something?" he asked.

"You could say that," Katniss replied. They stopped at the door, which was red and splotched with splodges of dirt. Peeta couldn't imagine Katniss wishing to hang around in such a shabby shack. Then again . . . never judge a book . . .

"Act like the Jabberjay rule is enforced as soon as we go in, okay?" Katniss asked.

"Erm, okay?" Peeta was suddenly confused. Why would the Jabberjay rule have to be enforced in what looked like the outside of a run-down club? Where exactly had Katniss taken him?

"Good boy." Katniss hooked her fingers into his belt loops and tugged him forward, pressing a kiss against his lips. She slipped her hands around his waist and tugged him closer. "Trust me, if you relax, you'll really enjoy yourself," she breathed against his mouth.

"Okay, mistress," Peeta replied. Katniss smirked cheekily, her fingers crawling dangerously beneath the waistband of his jeans, scratching his lower back gently. Peeta shivered, not knowing that his Mistress had the movement listed underneath the heading, _Spots that make him shiver_, in the notepad in the drawer of her desk.

"I love it when you call me that without even needing to be told," Katniss purred, biting down on his bottom lip. She pulled back and winked. "Let's go, sexy." With a friendly pat on the ass, Katniss placed her hand on the door and pushed through. "Come on, don't be shy!"

Peeta chewed on his lip but knew there would be consequences if he didn't do as he was told. Taking one last fleeting look behind him, at Katniss' car, he pushed open the door that had swung closed again behind Katniss and went in.

It was like he had stepped into a whole other world.

Inside was much more modern and cleaner than the outside. In fact, the ouside was very deceiving, giving the idea that whatever lay inside _had_ to be just as shabby and disgusting as the outside. Instead it was the complete opposite. To the left, a bar took up an entire wall, shelf after shelf of a variety of colourful drinks and bottles taking up the space. The walls were pink, with red leather booths scattered around. The floor looked . . . metallic, almost. Katniss' heels clicked against it as she headed straight for the bar.

"Johanna!" she called, cupping her hands over her mouth to make her voice travel. "Your bestest friend in the world is here!"

"_Cashmere?_ What are you doing here?" A voice called back. Katniss laughed and a woman with short brown hair came out from a door by the bar, a self-satisfied smirk on her face. Peeta couldn't believe what she was wearing. Nothing but a leather bra and short-shorts.

"Katniss, ya bitch, where have you been?" the woman exclaimed, climbing over the bar and pulling Katniss into a hug.

"Oh you know me, Johanna, work has been crazy," Katniss sighed. She stepped back and gave Johanna the once over. "You're looking good! Are you still with Blight?"

Johanna nodded and sat down on one of the stools by the bar. "Yup," she replied. "He can be a whiny bitch sometimes but I love 'em to bits." She crossed one leg over the other and Peeta noticed something sticking out of her ankle boot. _A riding corp._ He gulped. It didn't take much to imagine what she probably did with that. "What about you? You haven't been here in ages!"

"I know, I've been meaning to," Katniss replied. She looked over her shoulder, her eyes meeting Peeta's instantly. "But I've finally gotten back in the game."

Johanna followed her gaze, her eyebrows lifting when she finally noticed Peeta standing there. "Oh, yum," she said. Her gaze was hungry, predatory, the sort that makes you feel like you're being devoured by someone's eyes alone.

Katniss went to him and grabbed his hand, dragging him away from the door. "Jo, this is Peeta," she said, her hand crawling up his back and playing with the blond curls at the nape of his neck. "He's still new to our world so be nice and don't touch what's not yours."

The fact that Katniss needed to tell her friend to not touch what wasn't hers was worrying, since the only thing Johanna seemed to not own was Katniss herself and . . . well . . . him.

"Well he's pretty," Johanna said, her eyes drifting up and down lazily. Ten seconds later Peeta realized that her eyes were lazily drifting up and down to _examine_ _him_. He forced himself to stay normal, pretending that there still wasn't a part of him that expected her to spit in his face and call him fat. "I could just eat him up."

"Yeah well, you can't," Katniss replied. She tugged him closer to her and he was surprised by her possessiveness. Johanna was smirking though, as if she heard it all before.

Johanna slid her hand down her leg and pulled the riding corp out of her boot. She walked past, running the leather along Peeta's mid-section as she went before climbing onto a table and changing a light bulb. He found himself leaning closer to Katniss, who wrapped her arms around him like a mother comforting a child. "Ignore her, she's just jealous," his mistress purred, kissing his cheek.

"Of that tight ass? Damn right I am," Johanna responded.

Peeta's cheeks heated up in embarrassment. Katniss smiled and stroked back the hair from his face. "It's a compliment little cub, take it," she assured him.

"Aw, is he a shy one?" Johanna teased. Katniss gave him a reassuring squeeze and went to the bar, kneeling on a stool and leaning over to grab a bottle off one of the shelves. "Hey you, that's stealing."

"I'll pay for how much we drink," Katniss answered. She spun on her heel and grinned. "Can we get a private booth?" she asked.

"You don't even have to ask, you know that," Johanna said, screwing a new light bulb in and whipping her hands away as it lit up. "You're my best friend, what am I going to say? _No_?" She grinned and threw Katniss the corp. Katniss caught it expertly and twirled it round her fingers. Peeta's eyes followed it uneasily, as if she was going to smack him with it right there in front of Johanna. "There's a booth at the very back, no one will even know you're there."

"Great!" Katniss said. "Come with me little cub." She took Peeta's hand and guided him to the back of the room where Johanna had pointed.

"What sort of bar is this anyway?" Peeta whispered to Katniss. She didn't answer, just kept walking until they reached the booth. It was quite large and instead of having a table in the middle-like it would in a diner-there was a bunch of cushions and a small chest of drawers underneath the seats.

"I remembered that I had just shampooed the carpet in the playroom so that's why we're here," Katniss explained. "I always come here when my playroom is . . . erm, otherwise engaged." She climbed into the booth and lay back on a pillow, stretching out her arms and sighing. "Come on in, sit down. I told you you'd enjoy yourself if you relaxed."

Peeta looked over to where Johanna was now wiping down the bar. He turned back to Katniss, his face a mask of concern. "What about her?" he asked.

"What about her?" Katniss replied. She frowned. "Jo may be crazy but she isn't a pervert. You do realize she owns this place, right? She designed it, all the rules came from her own head. One of them being that you can't spy on the customers. Everyone have to be given their privacy. Why would she break her own rules?"

"I don't know . . . to rebel?"

"Against _herself_?"

Peeta could see the hole in that argument. He met eyes with Katniss again. She jerked her thumb in a _'Get in here you goofball!'_ gesture that hinted at an undertone of, _'And if you don't, you will pay for it.'_ Against his better judgement, he did as he was told and got into the booth, sitting across from Katniss and fiddling with his fingers nervously.

"Right, let's see. What toys does Jo provide now-a-days?" Katniss opened the drawer underneath the seat and gasped dramatically. "Oh my god she does cock rings now?!"

Peeta eyed the device in her hands with a confused frown. "What the heck does that do?" he asked.

"It's not my sort of thing," Katniss explained. "It prevents orgasm. They can vibrate, exude heat and come in a variety of colours. I don't like them because why would I give you a tool for something you can do just fine yourself if you put your mind to it? And if you cum before I let you, the ice cube punishment is worth the lack of toy."

Peeta had not went through the ice cube punishment yet but he was curious as to how it would count as a form 'torture'. It was just ice. It'd be a bit cold, granted, but it didn't seem like it would be all that horrible.

Katniss dug further into the drawer, muttering a range of names of tools under her breath that Peeta had never heard before. Except for the very few he had experienced so far. "Jeez, it _has_ been a while," she finally concluded. "Look at the fucking variety. My god, she's even got butt plugs now, what the heck is that about?"

"You're not planning to . . . use any of that . . . are you?"

Katniss snickered. "No, I'm just looking for lube," she said. "What do you think? Warmed, coloured, flavoured-wait, why in the hell would you need flavoured lube?" She pulled out a tub and unscrewed the cap. Dipping her finger into it, she tentatively licked the gooey substance. Almost immediately she pulled a face. "Oh fuck, that's rotten."

Peeta took the tub from her and read the contents. "It's supposed to be blueberry," he told her.

"_That_ is not blueberry," Katniss said.

"Well, maybe it's out of date," Peeta suggested.

Katniss cringed. "I just licked out of date lube," she said, her voice disgusted. She took the tub back and screwed the lid back on. "I think we'll leave the berries alone and just go for the warmed."

"What do you mean, 'warmed'?" Peeta asked.

"Here." Katniss took his arm and scooped some of the lube from a different tub out. She smeared it onto his skin. "Count back from ten." He frowned but did what she said. For the first five seconds, the substance was just cold but it slowly started warming up and by the time Peeta reached ten it was burning his skin.

"Oh my god, ow!" he exclaimed. Katniss laughed. She didn't wipe it off, instead just letting it dry off on his skin. "People use that?"

"Yup," Katniss said, popping the 'p'. She kept the lube out on the chair and searched for something else. Eventually she sat back up with a length of rope in her hands. She had a frown on her face that looked like it had been burned there. "This is the rough stuff," she muttered, almost to herself. "Could tear skin if tied tight enough . . ."

Out of all the things for Katniss to be worried about, Peeta hadn't expected something like rope to pull her up short. "And that's a bad thing?" It sounded like both a statement and a question.

"I don't draw blood, remember?" Katniss said. "I don't want these to tear your wrists open and soak you in blood." She shivered. "I _hate_ blood." She promptly dropped the ropes back into the drawer and kicked it shut. As if trying to distract herself from the thought of bleeding, she opened the bottle of alcohol she took from the bar and took a gulp from it. Wiping the top, she asked, "Do you want some?"

Peeta shook his head. "No, thanks," he said. "I don't drink anymore."

Katniss wasn't going to push something like that. As his mistress, there were things she could tell Peeta to do but there were things she knew she couldn't. If he didn't want to drink alcohol, then she didn't have the right to force him to. "Do you want me to ask Johanna to get you something non-alocholic?" she asked.

"No, I'm fine, but thank you," Peeta said. He honestly didn't want to be a burden over something as silly as the fact he didn't drink and hasn't ever since he got hammered that night with Delly. Still, Katniss didn't want to be sitting in front of him doing nothing but drinking alochol without even bothering to get him something in case he _did_ get thirsty.

"I'll get a jug of water anyway," she said, kicking off her shoes and climbing out of the booth.

While she was gone, Peeta curiously leaned forward and pulled open one of the drawers. The things inside it were confusing. Some looked painful, others looked messy. How did people use these things casually? Lining the booth seats were little hooks, all of them varying in size. A different drawer contained little silk ribbons. While waiting for Katniss to come back, Peeta took one of the ribbons out and started tying it around one of the metal hooks above his head, wondering how someone could be relaxed about doing this sort of stuff in a public-ish area.

Katniss climbed over the bar and filled up a jug of water. While it filled, she crouched down by the freezer and pulled out a bag of ice cubes. Johanna wouldn't mind that she was behind the bar as she had done it before and there had never been a complaint then so why would now be different? She switched the tap off once the water reached the top and dropped five ice cubes into the jug.

"You're different."

Katniss almost dropped the jug when she jumped in shock. Johanna was leaning against the door that lead out back, her chocolate eyes gleaming. "What do you mean different?" Katniss demanded.

"Well, you've never been so possessive before," Johanna said. "Every sub you've had before blondie, you've never said 'Don't touch what's not yours' to me. You used to like to humiliate them a little when meeting the friends or out in public. But you gave me a look that made me feel like you were going to rip my instestines out if I insulted him even slightly, even in the jokey way that we do."

"There's nothing to insult," Katniss said.

"That's not supposed to stop you," Johanna said. "You used to tell Gale his dick was small and I know that a man of that stature did not have a tiny ding dong. It's the point of the humiliation, not the truth. But I knew immediately that if I even teased that boy about the little pink tint in his cheeks that you'd-"

"Force you off a cliff?" Katniss asked. "Yes." She scowled. "What the hell is wrong with the pink tint anyway? It's cute!"

Johanna stared. "You've changed."

"I haven't!"

"It's not necessarily a bad thing!" Johanna insisted. "I'm just saying that you're different from when I last saw you. Maybe it will do you some good."

"Some _good_?!"

"Have you even fucked yet?"

Katniss sealed her mouth shut angrily and turned her attention back to the water jug. She wasn't going to answer that. It would just help Johanna along further in her side of the argument. It wasn't that she didn't want to have sex with Peeta and it wasn't that there was anything stopping it from happening it was just . . . the moment didn't seem right just yet. Peeta was still a virgin after all, Katniss was sure that it was important to him for the moment to be right and, okay, a small part of her wanted it to be right too.

"My point exactly," Johanna said, taking the silence as answer enough. "If you were the same, you'd have ridden that boy like a bronco by now."

"Okay, maybe I am a little different but what does it matter?" Katniss replied.

"It really doesn't," Johanna laughed. "You're just taking it the wrong way."

Katniss sighed. "I know, I'm sorry." She picked up the jug again and wiped counter with a tea towel. "You're just not the first person to have noticed, that's all."

"It's a good thing Kat," Johanna insisted. "Maybe this Peeta guy will do you some good. He seems like a nice guy."

Katniss smiled, almost to herself. "He is," she said quietly.

"Then what the hell are you doing here?" Johanna laughed. "Get back to him, stop talking to me!" Katniss laughed as well, walking around the bar and heading back to the booth. "Oh! And the flavoured lube is out of date! Don't touch it!"

Katniss rolled her eyes. "Okay!" she called back. Would have been nice to know that _before_ she started hoking around in the drawers but never mind, what's done is done. When she arrived at the booth again, she burst out laughing at the fact that Peeta had managed to get his wrist tangled up in some ribbon tied to one of the bondage hooks. "What in the world are you doing?!" she laughed.

Peeta looked embarrassed, tugging on his wrist and causing the ribbon just to pull tighter around him. "I was waiting for you to come back," he admitted sheepishly.

"What? By getting started without me?" Katniss chuckled, climbing back into the booth and setting the jug down. "Here, you haven't even done it right." She freed his wrist from the ribbon with ease and fixed the bow so it was a knot instead. "Always use knots, they're much stronger than bows."

"Right, good to know."

Katniss leaned forward and kissed him, brushing her thumb along the ribbon around his wrist. "I'm glad you found these," she said. "Much better than ropes. They won't rip your skin open. Maybe mark it a bit but definitely not make you bleed." She dusted her hands off and sighed. "Okay, enough faffing around. Let's start. I think I have to say Jabberjay again because you seem to have forgotten that I said it outside before we even came in."

Realization seemed to dawn on Peeta's face as he remembered that she _had_ said Jabberjay outside the building. His face flushed pink and he bit his lip, looking ashamed. "Sorry Mistress."

"Sorry ain't going to cut it this time around," Katniss replied. "Rest your arms ontop of the chair." Not desiring to get into any more trouble with his Mistress, Peeta did what he was told, folding his arms on top of the booth chair so he was facing away from Katniss. His wrist snagged on the ribbon around his wrist, tugging on the hook but Katniss decided to just leave it the way it was.

She leaned forward, so her breath brushed past Peeta's ear, and whispered, "Do you know why I'm about to punish you?"

Peeta exhaled and nodded. "Yes, Mistress."

Katniss wound her arms around his waist, letting her chin rest on his shoulder. "Tell me," she ordered. She slipped her hands underneath his t-shirt and trailed her nails along the skin of his abdamon. Peeta shivered and let his forehead fall into his arms.

"Because I forgot you said Jabberyjay, Mistress," he answered.

"And what did you do because of this?"

There was a pause as he mulled the question over. Normally, if Katniss hadn't made it clear what it was he had done wrong specifically then Peeta wouldn't know how to answer. But he finally said, "I forgot to call you Mistress."

"That's right," Katniss answered, pleased that he knew without having been told. "So," she purred, nibbling on his ear, "what do you think I should do to punish you?"

"What do _you_ wish to do to punish me, Mistress?" Peeta asked, his voice small.

"Well . . . I could spank you or I could do something a little different."

"Different, Mistress?"

Katniss slid her hands around to his back, hooking her fingers into the belt loops of his pants and teasingly pulling them down just the slightest of bits. She breathed heavily in his ear, occasionally taking the lobe between her teeth and tugging. "I've been aching to fuck you for ages now, little cub," she purred, inching the pants down further. Peeta shuddered, his eyes squeezed shut and his breathing already laboured. "I suppose I'm sort of glad that you slipped up, since I get to take control of your body like this."

She pulled the pants down over the curve of his backside and let them fall, bunching at his knees. Unable to resist, she smacked his ass, relishing in the yelp she got in return. God, some of the sounds he came out with were so, so sexy. "Don't move," she ordered. Peeta nodded into his arms, his jaw coiled tight as he fought against his initial instinct to pull his pants back up and stop sitting there exposed the way he was.

Katniss opened up one of the drawers and produced a tub of _in date_ lube. No flavour or heating abilities, not for his first time. Unscrewing the lid and coating her finger in the stuff, she sat back up and brushed her hand (obviously the hand without the lube on it) through her cub's hair affectionately. "You need to relax now," she told him gently. "Take a deep breath and then relax all of your muscles for me."

Peeta obeyed, taking a large, deep breath and relaxing everything as he exhaled. Katniss tugged his underwear off, smiling to herself when he whimpered in anticipation. She pressed herself flush against his back, pinning his front to the chair, and pressed a reassuring kiss to the nape of his neck before pushing her finger inside him.

Immediately, the relaxation disappeard. Katniss knew this would happen. It was standard reaction. Peeta groaned in pain, his hands clenching into fists ontop of the chair. "Sssh," Katniss soothed, tapping more kisses onto his neck. "Just relax like I told you."

"It h-hurts Mistress," Peeta responded through clenched teeth.

"I know it does little cub, but it gets better," Katniss replied. She wriggled her finger and managed to get another one in, using them to scissor him open. Peeta's jaw was clenched so tight by this point that Katniss wondered if it was going to pop out of its socket. She put all her energy into finding that small bundle of nerves that would make everything better. It shouldn't be too far . . .

Her pointer finger brushed something and Peeta jumped, a gasp of surprise escaping his mouth. Katniss smirked and pressed her finger against the spot, almost laughing at her cub's reaction. He moaned, his shoulders shaking with the pleasure she was causing. Katniss relished in the control she had over him, in how she could deny him all of it if she wanted to, or give it to him all at once, if she wanted to.

"Ngh Mis-Mistress, ah, I can't take . . . _ohhh godddd_."

"You're very audible all of a sudden little cub," Katniss teased, massaging his pleasure spot and pressing a kiss against his coiled jaw. He groaned in response. Katniss chuckled and tasted the sweat that had gathered at the nape of his neck. She dipped into the same drawer and the one that contained the lube and pulled out a purple dildo.

When she slipped her fingers out, Peeta moaned in frustration. Katniss laughed and squeezed almost half the bottle of lube onto it. She told him to relax again and slowly pushed the device in.

Peeta could only compare the feeling as to being ripped from the inside out. It was painful, almost unbearable. He knawed on his fist to the point where it bled, trying not to scream. Katniss was paitent, waiting for him to adjust before trying to move it. It was agonizing, so painful Peeta didn't know if he was ever going to be able to sit down again.

When the tip of the toy brushed that pleasure point, the pain mixed with ecstasy and desire. It was too much to handle, he couldn't bear it.

"Mockingjay!" he gasped, ripping his hand away from his mouth so Katniss could hear him. He worried Katniss thought he was going to think she was a wimp because he could barely last five minutes with it. But instead, Katniss simply pulled it out and everything stopped.

"Hey, sit down," she said, taking his elbows and helping him sit on the chair. "You okay?"

Peeta nodded, wincing at the pressure on his backside when he sat. "F-Fine," he answered.

Katniss nodded and brushed some hair out of his eyes. "Are you sure?"

"Uh-huh."

"Okay, so I think I know where we stand on the dildo stuff anyway," Katniss said, making light of the situation. "You like fingers but not the toy itself."

"It was just a bit too much to take," Peeta quickly said, feeling like he had to explain himself.

Katniss shook her head. "It's okay, you don't need to explain," she answered. "Maybe we can touch on it some other time but just leave it for now, okay?"

Peeta nodded. "Okay."

Katniss smiled and pecked his lips. "You're still my little baby cub," she assured him.

Peeta returned the smile sheepishly. "And you're still my Mistress."

**A/N: My smut writing is still very amateur in my eyes but I hope you guys enjoyed it! :D**

**Please R&R! (:**


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